Meeting in closed session on Sept. 29, 2007, the Board of Directors of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) considered two separate grievances against fellows for violations of the Standards of Professionalism (SOPs) on Orthopaedic Expert Witness Testimony. The grievances were considered separately, and none of the parties to either grievance was present at the Board meeting.

Steven L. Nehmer, MD, of Union, N.J., and Marvin Winell, MD, of South Plainfield, N.J., were both found to be in violation of two or more of the Mandatory Standards outlined in the SOPs on Expert Witness Testimony. In both cases, the Committee on Professionalism (COP) held hearings and the Judiciary Committee heard appeals to the recommendations of the COP.

Peter J. Mandell, MD, chair of the COP, was present to answer questions; William J. Hopkinson, MD, and Murray J. Goodman, MD, chairs of the COP Hearing Panels, and Richard D. Schmidt, MD, chair of the Judiciary Committee, presented the committee reports. A court reporter officially transcribed the proceedings.

The Board reached its final decision through a secret written ballot. Official compliance actions taken by the board must be approved by at least two thirds of the voting members present and voting. Both cases resulted in one-year suspensions of AAOS Fellowship. The cases are summarized here.

The Board also took several automatic professional compliance actions against fellows whose licenses had been suspended or revoked by state medical boards or who had been found guilty of a felony. These cases and the decision of the AAOS Board of Directors are summarized below.

For more information on how cases proceed through the professional compliance process, see “What does it take?”