Category: Pain

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines describe long COVID as ‘signs and symptoms that develop during or following an infection consistent with COVID-19 and which continue for more than four weeks and are not explained by an alternative diagnosis.’ After 12 weeks, NICE recommends using the term ‘post-COVID syndrome’ to describe […]

Whiplash injuries are a common occurrence after rear-end collisions between two vehicles. As the front car is struck, the sudden change in speed as a result of the impact of the crash causes the torsos of the driver and passengers to be thrown forwards. However, their heads lag behind, which causes their necks to be […]

The definition of pain, as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage’ (1) recognises that the phenomenon is more than just a physical event. Indeed, when we talk of someone ‘suffering’ from pain, we are predominately referring to the emotional experience (2). Pain is […]

Until recently, evidence in medicolegal cases was collected from physical sources, such as patients’ medical histories, witness statements and expert witnesses. Technological advances mean that other sources of evidence, including social media, CCTV monitoring and GPS tracking, are now available. Many personal injury cases involve insurance companies, who are likely to use these methods of […]

Not only is back pain the commonest reason for a GP consultation, it has a significant socioeconomic impact too. It has been estimated that between 60% and 80% of UK inhabitants will suffer from the condition at some point during their lifetime, and that at any one time up to one-third of adults will be […]

The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) describes pain as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage’(1). Although the association between tissue damage and pain is central to this definition, it also takes into account the fact that pain is […]

In the majority of medicolegal cases, the outcome is dependent on the opinions expressed in experts’ reports. Therefore, these must be based on high quality evidence, particularly in cases where the questions surrounding breach of duty, causation and the damage sustained by the claimant are complex. Furthermore, once a case has gone to court, it […]

In medicolegal cases, it is rare for the legal teams involved to have sufficient specialist knowledge to make a judgement on the medical issues raised by a case. Therefore, they rely on medical experts to provide them with advice. It is the duty of the medical expert to provide the court with an objective and […]

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and fibromyalgia (FM) are common chronic pain syndromes. Both are characterised by extreme pain but while CRPS affects only one region of the body, in FM the pain is widespread throughout the body. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) although there is some dispute as to […]

Conditions such as chronic pain can be extremely complex and may require input from a number of different specialties in order to diagnose patients and provide effective treatments. As a result, there has been an increase in the use of multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in the management of patients with pain. However, the expertise on offer […]

On 14 May, Dr Jenner ran a very popular webinar on “CRPS: Psychological or Physical?” During the webinar he explored the symptoms and challenges of diagnosing CRPS, the particular medicolegal challenges posed by the conditions and also his opinion regarding the extent to which CRPS should be defined as a psychological rather than physical condition. […]

Although fibromyalgia (FM) is now widely accepted, there is still no definitive diagnostic test for the condition and the causes are not yet fully understood. Therefore, the condition presents several challenges in the medicolegal field. These are chiefly focussed around diagnosis, establishing causation and whether the symptoms reported are severe enough to cause significant disablement (1). […]