Articles for attorneys, claims professionals and medical-legal audiences on how ophthalmic evidence is evaluated — what the testing shows, how causation is reasoned, and what distinguishes a rigorous medical-legal evaluation from an advocacy opinion.
All articles are authored and reviewed by Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME, board-certified ophthalmologist and active California Qualified Medical Evaluator.
August 2, 2026 · Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME
A rigorous ophthalmic medical-legal report has a recognizable anatomy: an inventory of everything reviewed, a documented history, detailed examination findings, diagnoses, direct answers to the referral questions, transparent causation reasoning, apportionment where the venue requires it, and an…
Read the full article →August 2, 2026 · Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME
The recurring problems in eye injury litigation are rarely exotic — they are a handful of structural mistakes that repeat across firms, case types, and both sides of the v. Each is understandable: ophthalmic records are dense, the specialty is technical, and busy dockets reward triage. But each…
Read the full article →August 2, 2026 · Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME
Causation analysis in a vision loss claim is a structured comparison: what the eye could do before, what happened to it, what it can do now, and whether the alleged event — as opposed to the other candidates — best explains the difference. "My vision is worse since the accident" states an…
Read the full article →August 2, 2026 · Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME
No other sensory organ can be measured as objectively as the eye. Its structures can be photographed and scanned at micron resolution, its function mapped point by point, and its electrical responses recorded without any voluntary participation by the examinee. For litigation, this has a…
Read the full article →August 2, 2026 · Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME
The four labels attach to different things: QME is a state-issued designation, AME is a role created by the parties' agreement, IME is a category of examination, and expert witness is a litigation function. One physician can hold or serve in all four — but each carries its own selection process,…
Read the full article →August 2, 2026 · Marc H. Shomer, MD, PhD, QME
The letters QME after a physician's name denote a specific, state-issued distinction: appointment by the Administrative Director of the California Division of Workers' Compensation as a Qualified Medical Evaluator, earned by examination and maintained through continuing education and periodic…
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