Medicine
Tropical medicine expert witnesses
Listed tropical medicine expert witnesses address imported infection, travel-related illness and the advice given before travel. Delayed recognition of malaria in a returning traveller is a recurring subject of instruction.
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The evidence
What a tropical medicine expert witness is asked to determine
Tropical medicine claims commonly begin with a travel history that was taken, or was not. Whether fever in a returning traveller prompted the right tests within the right period usually decides the case, and the primary care record is often the key document.
- Whether a travel history was taken and recorded at the relevant consultation.
- Whether fever in a returning traveller prompted testing for malaria within an appropriate period.
- Whether pre-travel advice, vaccination and prophylaxis reflected the destination and risk.
- Whether the treatment given was appropriate to the organism and severity identified.
- What difference earlier recognition would probably have made to the outcome alleged.
Practitioners are listed across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Location can be narrowed in the register’s location listings before an instruction is made.
Claim contexts
Claims that instruct this discipline
These links describe the question tropical medicine evidence can answer. They do not prescribe the scope of an individual instruction.
Clinical negligence claims
Recognition, testing and treatment of imported infection.
View claim type → 02Personal injury claims
Illness acquired abroad and its continuing consequences.
View claim type → 03Inquests
Tropical disease evidence where a death is being investigated.
View claim type →Search the register by the discipline used in the instruction.
See tropical medicine listingsReport routes
Reports prepared
Primary care and hospital records support a records review report covering the travel history and presentation. A breach and causation report then addresses the delay alleged.
Where continuing consequences are claimed, a condition and prognosis report may be required. The scope of each report route is set out on its own page.
Tropical medicine expert witness evidence
A tropical medicine expert witness starts from the travel history recorded and states what the presentation should have prompted at that point.
The listing shows discipline and coverage; everything further is agreed with the practitioner. See guidance from Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene alongside the case material.
Directory search
Tropical Medicine listings
Tropical Medicine Expert Witness Cases & Claims
Related expert witness specialties
Questions answered
Frequently asked questions
Will a Tropical Medicine expert witness respond to Part 35 questions?
Yes - CPR 35.6 entitles the parties to put written questions on a report, and answering them is part of the expert's duty to the court. A Tropical Medicine report prepared for proceedings in England and Wales carries the Part 35 statement of truth, with equivalent duties applying in the other UK jurisdictions.
Can a Tropical Medicine expert act as a single joint expert?
Where the court directs a single joint expert under CPR 35.7, the instruction is agreed between the parties and put jointly - a routine basis of instruction in this field. Whether a particular practitioner accepts SJE appointments is confirmed with the practitioner at the enquiry stage.
Will the expert attend joint discussions or give evidence at trial?
Where the court directs discussions between experts under CPR 35.12, they meet and produce a joint statement of what is agreed and what is disputed; attendance at trial - in person or by video link - is likewise a matter of court direction. These commitments are confirmed with the practitioner at instruction.
Can I choose a Tropical Medicine expert of a specific gender, or one who assesses remotely?
Yes on both counts. Every listing displays the practitioner's gender, consulting locations and assessment types - face to face, remote or both - so sensitive-instruction preferences can be applied at the shortlisting stage, before any contact is made.