“Dear John, Thank you very much for your help with this book!” James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq., Vice President/General Counsel for SEAK, the world’s leading provider of Expert Witness training and texts.
The Clinical Forensic Medicine Division of Hampton Health, Ltd. is headed by Dr. John H. Fullerton, who as a certified Clinical Forensics Expert, has participated in nationally recognized elder abuse cases, including the cases of “lay caregivers” misguidedly criminally charged with homicide or manslaughter after caring for a loved one at home with advanced dementias (according to expressed prior wishes and advanced directives). See the article 'The Criminalization of End-of-Life Care' co-authored by Dr. Fullerton, also available in our Articles & Resources section.
Over roughly the past ten years, Dr. Fullerton has provided independent medical expert testimony and clinical forensic medical testimony in approximately one hundred and seventy-five cases (and reviewed over seven hundred and fifty cases), though representing no more than 10% of his professional time. He has focused his medical expertise in mostly personal injury, medical malpractice, determinations of Medicare Medical Necessity matters, and civil & criminal cases alleging elder abuse (including homicide) at either discovery, deposition or at trial testifying for both plaintiff and defense cases, respectively.
For the past five years in particular, Dr. Fullerton has developed a specialized expertise in determining Medicare medical necessity cases to both “ferret out” alleged fraudulent practices (including billing) in long-term care (LTC) cases, including regional Hospice Medical Director Certification Cases, as well as successfully defending other LTC facility “chains” from allegations of Medicare impropriety, including allegations of Fraud & Abuse, respectively.
Additionally, Dr. Fullerton is vetted by the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Office of The Inspector General and the FBI to perform the duties of a government expert in cases of criminal healthcare fraud.
His specialty focus and areas of expertise, include: Adult Hospital Medicine (including: medical centers with training programs), Ambulatory Primary Care (including: Internal Medicine & Geriatrics, with experience instructing and working with mid-level practitioners), Geriatric approaches to Gero-Psychiatry (particularly in Long-Term Care), Treatment of the Immuno-compromised Host 1 [Chapter 12 - Pulmonary Function Tests by Robert J. Fallat and John Fullerton pgs. 146-166], Long-Term Care (including: SNF, Sub-Acute Rehabilitation, Assisted Living-with Secured Dementia Units & LTC Medical Directorships & Hospice Medical Directorships), Hospice & Palliative care units, Home Care, and Elder Abuse Defense cases (both Civil and Criminal).
Additional areas of testimonial expertise involve cases re: preventable falls, pressure wounds, pain management and addiction medicine (including forensic toxicology/DUI defense cases).
As seen here in September 2009, Dr. Fullerton took the stand in the deciding moments of the notorious West Palm Beach Fenn Trial heard round the United States.
"Dr. John Fullerton testified for the defense, graphing for jurors seven stages of decline in Alzheimer's patients, during the first-degree murder trial of Toby Fenn and his wife Kerstin Fenn."
"The Fenns faced possible life in prison for the death of Kerstin's mother, Elly Lorey, whom they cared for. Dr. Fullerton testified 'I've seen this very similar style of care - trial and error.' " See the Palm Beach Post article 'Doctor Counters Starvation Claim in Alzheimer's Death; Says Shrunken Appearance No Surprise' also available in our Articles & Resources section.
"Dr. Fullerton, at least the sixth medical doctor called to testify, [following the traditional exchange between the forensic pathologist and in this case the nationally renowned "pioneers" and celebrity autopsy experts Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Vincent DiMaio, respectively] opined that Lorey was in a very advanced stage of Alzheimer's and the manner the Fenns managed her dementia met an acceptable level of care." (September 18, 2009 Lannis Waters/Palm Beach Post)
Dr. Fullerton’s testimony was a deciding factor in the Fenns not being charged with first-degree murder but charged with the lesser offenses of culpable negligence (a misdemeanor) and abuse of an elderly person.
Of note, Dr. Fullerton has been retained as an end-of-life care criminal defense expert in seven additional similar cases whereby lay caregivers, caring for loved ones with dementia (with associated wasting and unavoidable pressure ulcers) while at home, have been charged with homicide.
In the Spring of 2011, Dr. John Fullerton, nationally certified, was likewise qualified by the court of Madera, CA. to testify as an expert in clinical forensic medicine, including geriatrics, Hospice & Palliative Medicine, home care, and medical directorship during the high-profile murder trial of Stephanie Hernandez. See the Los Angeles Times article 'Elderly Healthcare: Death of 91-year-old Spotlights Line Between Care and Killing', also found in the Articles & Resources section.
The trial focused on wasting and pressure ulcers associated with end-of-life care, in this instance the great aunt of Stephanie Hernandez, Maria Lopez, who had dementia and whom Stephanie cared for and lived with for three years, having been raised by her great aunt as a child.
In his testimony Dr. Fullerton explained to the jury what happened when someone like Maria Lopez lost more than half her body weight. Dr. Fullerton testified, “It’s remarkable. This isn’t someone whose life was cut short. This is someone whose life was extended by living at home.” He went on to testify, “The sores? They were unavoidable. When a dying person whose weight plummets is confined to bed, the skin fails like any other organ [Terminal Skin Failure].”
Dr. Fullerton’s direct testimony proved instrumental to the defense. Stephanie Hernandez was dismissed of the charges of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felony elder abuse and was freed after having been incarcerated since her arrest 14 months earlier.
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1 Chapter 12 Pulmonary Function Tests by Robert J. Fallat and John Fullerton - J. B. Lippincott © 1991. Medical text and reference book Respiratory Disease in the Immunosuppressed Host by James H. Shelhamer
