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	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

I found the article "Medical Malpractice and Facial Nerve Paralysis"¹ in the January issue of the ARCHIVES to be informative and disturbing. Having given expert testimony on behalf of physician defendants in several facial nerve cases, I know how difficult it is to win these cases. Juries seem prejudicially inclined to award money despite the availability of evidence against such a finding.

What is most disturbing to me when I review the data collected by Dr Lydiatt¹ is the group of cases that did not meet the burden to prove negligence or malpractice. These 31 patients who sued their surgeons admitted that they understood that facial paralysis was a possible consequence. Nonetheless, the plaintiffs prevailed in 65% of these cases (20 patients). Does Dr Lydiatt have any information regarding the testimony of the plaintiffs' experts? It would appear from the article that most of the experts for the plaintiffs were . . . [Full Text of this Article]

James E. Benecke, Jr, MD
Otology Associates Inc
3023 N Ballas Rd, Suite 675
St Louis, MO 63131

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