Based in Kentfield, CA, Stephen Raffle, MD, earned his BA in physiology from the University of California, Berkeley and his MD from Chicago Medical School. Dr. Raffle, a Forensic Psychiatrist who is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, frequently serves as an expert witness in legal proceedings.
An expert witness possesses information acquired through education, training, and experience that can help a judge or jury understand specialized evidence in order to reach a verdict in a trial. In civil or criminal cases, whenever there is a medical issue bearing on emotional states or behavior, a forensic psychiatrist can provide expertise on the behavioral consequences of such conditions. Psychologists are not trained in medicine and are not qualified to evaluate or explain medical-psychiatric disorders.
Psychiatrists are better expert witnesses because:
Psychiatrists can review prior medical records and render non-psychiatric opinions. Psychologists cannot.
Psychiatrists are formally trained in pharmacology and understand pharmacologic interactions and the behavioral aspects of medication. Psychologists are not.
Psychiatrists are required to demonstrate competence in neurology; hence, they are more knowledgeable about the neurological organic pathologies causing mental symptoms. Psychologists are not.
Psychiatrists are trained to conduct physical (medical) examinations, read laboratory results, read radiological studies, and understand pathophysiology to diagnose patients. Psychologists are not.
Presently, only three percent of all psychiatrists are board-certified in forensic psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
