Medical-Legal Evaluation of Hearing Loss, Third Edition

Robert A. Dobie

Jul 2015 · Plural Publishing

About this ebook

 Medical-Legal Evaluation of Hearing Loss, Third Edition includes the most accurate and current developments in the field with more than 250 new references. A comprehensive guide on hearing loss and the law, it examines claims, court cases, and the evolution of hearing conservation. This text addresses age-related hearing loss, genetics of hearing loss, and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) - with a newly revised international standard (ISO-1999, 2013) that presents a comprehensive predictive model for NIHL, critical in medical-legal evaluation. Also examined is hearing loss due to toxins, trauma, and disease, as well as the effects of cardiovascular risk factors, race, and socioeconomic status. Furthermore, included tutorial discussions of acoustics, hearing, and hearing testing will be valuable to attorneys and other nonclinicians.

New or expanded topics include:

The relationship of hearing loss to brain disordersJob fitnessAccommodations under the Americans with Disabilities ActBlast injuryRecreational music and hearing lossHypothesis of progressive NIHL after noise cessationSolvent ototoxicityAppropriate exchange rate for predicting noise hazardThe American Medical Association’s method of measurement of hearing disability

This new edition provides practical guidance for expert witnesses and legal practitioners and is essential for otolaryngologists, audiologists, occupational physicians, attorneys handling hearing loss claims, and claims management professionals.

About the author

Robert A. Dobie, MD, is clinical professor of otolaryngology at both the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) and the University of California, Davis, as well as partner in Dobie Associates, providing consultation in hearing, balance, hearing conservation, and ear disorders (www.dobieassociates.net). After medical school and residency training at Stanford University, Dr. Dobie completed fellowships in auditory physiology and otoneurosurgery. His previous positions include professor at the University of Washington, department chair at UTHSCSA, and director of extramural research at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health. He is past president of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, past chair of the Hearing and Equilibrium Committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and has served on the boards and councils of many other professional organizations and scholarly journals. Dr. Dobie’s research interests include age-related and noise-induced hearing loss, hearing conservation, and tinnitus. Additionally, he is the author of more than 200 publications.