Case Types
Dr. Urits reviews matters in which pain medicine or anesthesiology care is central to the dispute.
Pain Medicine
Dr. Urits is board certified in Pain Medicine and completed his interventional pain medicine fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School. He has edited three pain medicine textbooks.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS)
CRPS is one of the most disputed diagnoses in personal injury and malpractice litigation. Cases often turn on diagnostic criteria, causation, and what long-term treatment is reasonable.
Common issues: Whether the diagnosis meets accepted criteria; causation after trauma, surgery, or a procedure; delay in diagnosis or treatment
Spinal Cord Stimulation & Neuromodulation
Spinal cord stimulation is a core interventional pain therapy. It arises in litigation because of its complications and as a significant future-care item in injury cases.
Common issues: Patient selection and the trial period; lead placement technique and neurological injury; lead migration, infection, and explant decisions
Failed Back Surgery Syndrome
Persistent pain after spine surgery raises hard questions: what caused the pain, whether the interventional treatment that followed was reasonable, and what care the patient will need for life.
Common issues: Pre-existing degeneration versus new injury; reasonableness of injections, ablations, and stimulation; future care and cost
Intrathecal Drug Delivery
Intrathecal pumps deliver medication directly into the spinal fluid. Errors in candidate selection, catheter placement, dosing, or refilling can cause serious harm, and pumps are often a future-care item.
Common issues: Patient selection and trialing; catheter-related complications; dosing, refill, and programming errors
Peripheral Nerve Stimulation
Peripheral nerve stimulation is a fast-growing therapy for focal neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain. Disputes involve indications and medical necessity, technique, complications, and expected outcomes.
Common issues: Indications and medical necessity; lead placement, nerve injury, and infection; expected outcomes and future care
Headache & Migraine Interventions
Dr. Urits co-edited a textbook on the procedures used to treat chronic headache. He reviews cases involving post-traumatic headache, occipital neuralgia, post-dural puncture headache, and complications of headache procedures.
Common issues: Post-traumatic headache after collisions or brain injury; nerve blocks and botulinum toxin: indications and risks; post-dural puncture headache
Opioid Prescribing
Dr. Urits co-edited a book on outpatient opioid prescribing for chronic pain. He accepts DEA, administrative, licensing-board, and criminal matters as well as civil cases.
Common issues: Standard of care for starting, continuing, and tapering opioids; risk assessment and urine drug testing; overdose and wrongful death claims
Interventional Procedure Complications
When a pain procedure goes wrong, the questions are specific: whether it was indicated, consent was adequate, technique and guidance were appropriate, and the complication was promptly recognized and treated.
Common issues: Hematoma, infection, and nerve injury after epidural injection; dural puncture and post-dural puncture headache; informed consent and documentation
Spine Injury & Post-Traumatic Pain
In motor vehicle and premises injury cases, interventional pain treatment is often a large part of the claimed damages. Dr. Urits evaluates whether diagnoses are supported and treatment was reasonable and necessary.
Common issues: Facet, discogenic, and sacroiliac pain after trauma; reasonableness of blocks, ablation, and injections; pre-existing findings versus acute injury
Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care
Dr. Urits is board certified in Anesthesiology by the American Board of Anesthesiology. His opinions on anesthesia care rest on his anesthesia residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School, his board certification, and his published research. Retaining counsel should confirm expert qualifications under the rules of their jurisdiction.
Regional Anesthesia & Nerve Blocks
Regional anesthesia is where Dr. Urits's two specialties meet. He has written reviews of upper extremity and truncal regional anesthesia, published on fascial plane blocks and adjuvants, and taught ultrasound-guided techniques.
Common issues: Indications and choice of block technique; alleged nerve injury after a block; local anesthetic dosing and toxicity
Sedation & Monitored Anesthesia Care
Over-sedation, airway obstruction, and inadequate monitoring can cause serious harm, especially in ambulatory surgery centers and office settings. He reviews sedation given by anesthesiologists and by nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).
Common issues: Pre-sedation assessment; planned versus actual depth of sedation; monitoring, airway obstruction, and rescue
Monitoring & Postoperative Complications
Many perioperative injuries are discovered, or get worse, in recovery. These cases ask whether the patient was monitored appropriately, warning signs were recognized, and the response came in time.
Common issues: Adequacy of intraoperative and PACU monitoring; respiratory depression and hypoxia after surgery; postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction
Obstetric Anesthesia
Obstetric anesthesia cases involve two patients and time-critical decisions. Disputes often center on labor epidurals, anesthesia for cesarean delivery, neuraxial complications, and post-dural puncture headache.
Common issues: Labor epidural placement and complications; choice and timing of anesthesia for cesarean delivery; accidental dural puncture and headache
Perioperative & Intraoperative Anesthesia Care
Many anesthesia claims turn on what happened before the incision and in the operating room: evaluation of the patient, fit of the anesthetic plan, and timely response to intraoperative events.
Common issues: Preoperative evaluation and risk assessment; choice of anesthetic technique; intraoperative hypotension and crisis response
Airway Management & Intubation Injuries
Airway events are among the most serious complications of anesthesia, and airway trauma is a common anesthesia claim. Dr. Urits has published on intubation injuries, rapid sequence intubation, and laryngospasm.
Common issues: Airway assessment and planning; failed, delayed, or esophageal intubation; dental, vocal cord, and other airway trauma
Anesthesia Medications & Medication Errors
Anesthesia care involves potent drugs given quickly, often in combination. Claims can involve the wrong drug or dose, a missed interaction, or inadequate reversal of neuromuscular blockade.
Common issues: Drug selection and dosing; wrong-drug and wrong-dose errors; neuromuscular blockade and reversal
Informed Consent for Anesthesia & Procedures
Informed consent claims ask whether the patient was told about the material risks, benefits, and alternatives before anesthesia or a procedure, and whether that discussion was documented.
Common issues: Disclosure of anesthesia-specific risks; discussion of alternatives; timing of consent, capacity, and documentation
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