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Expert witness supports Toronto doctor Roland Wong

Your Expert Witness Roland Wong A doctor providing an expert’s opinion at the disciplinary hearing of Dr. Roland Wong said Tuesday he supported the Toronto physician’s controversial attempts to improve the health of his low-income patients.

Dr. Wong — who has been dubbed a ‘modern Robin Hood’ for helping patients on social assistance access additional money for food — is under investigation by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

The college’s lawyers allege Wong acted in a way that was “disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional” while operating a clinic that specialized in providing special diet allowances, which give patients on social assistance in Ontario additional money to buy healthy food.

US Supreme Court attacked over Feres “failure”

The military judiciary in the US is currently deciding how to deal with Staff Sgt Robert Bales, the soldier suspected of one of the most horrendous incidents to date in its engagement in Afghanistan – that of the shooting dead of 16 civilians, mainly children, in Kandahar.

Sgt Bales was reportedly passed fit for duty after being injured twice, including suffering a ‘concussive brain injury’. The wisdom or otherwise of that decision will no doubt emerge in due course, however his lawyer is reported by the BBC as suggesting Sgt Bales “…was not fit to serve because of injuries he had suffered on previous tours of duty”.

Sgt Bales’ injuries were suffered on active service, but many other military personnel suffer injuries in their daily working lives that are completely analogous to other work-related injuries suffered by civilians. However, US soldiers – unlike their counterparts in the British military – cannot sue the US government for compensation in the courts.

US court unimpressed by do-it-yourself Facebook litigant

An example of what can happen when non-experts get involved in litigation – particularly when they are hazy about what is and what is not legal – emerged from the US legal site Above the Law on 16 February. Minnesota resident Aaron Olsen attempted to sue his own uncle for harassment after he had posted embarrassing family photos of his nephew of Facebook. The photos included portraits of Olsen as a child in front of a Christmas tree.

G20 trial hears from explosives expert

expertwitnessByronSonneG20

Chemicals found in the home of man arrested in connection with the violence-marred G20 summit could have been combined into a bomb powerful enough to destroy a bus, his trial heard Wednesday.

Crown witness Crawford Anderson, an explosives expert who works with the Canadian military, did admit he saw no evidence that Byron Sonne had actually made any explosives.

IMO Assembly to meet for 27th session

imo
The 27th Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will meet in London at IMO Headquarters from 21 to 30 November 2011.

All 170 Member States and three Associate Members are entitled to attend the Assembly, which is IMO’s highest governing body. The intergovernmental organizations with which agreements of co-operation have been concluded and non-governmental organizations in consultative status with IMO are also invited to attend.