Medical-Legal Evaluation of Hearing Loss

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 disorders
• Job fitness
• Accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Blast injury
• Recreational music and hearing loss
• Hypothesis of progressive NIHL after noise cessation
• Solvent ototoxicity
• Appropriate exchange rate for predicting noise hazard
• The 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.

Reviews

"The text is precisely written and skilfully uses referenced material and case studies to deliver its complex lessons. The skill however is in how it melds together the clinical and legal standpoints."
—Chris Koros, in Audiology Now, The Official Magazine of Audiology Australia (Jan 2017)

"Robert Dobie is a highly experienced and respected international authority in the field of medical-legal assessment in the context of noise induced hearing loss. This book has been written for a broad audience, including otolaryngologists, audiologists and members of the legal profession. Unlike other texts in this field, the language is very accessible without too much emphasis on engineering terms or mathematics; something that I have often found difficult to understand. This book includes chapters on acoustics and the scope of audiometry (including exaggerated hearing loss); impairment; handicap and disability: and the effects of different types of noise, age and diseases on hearing loss, together with an outline of the factors that determine individual susceptibility to noise and age....When compared with other similar textbooks, I would have no hesitation in recommending Dobie's book to both beginners and experts in this field."
—Mr John S Phillips FRCS (ORL-HNS), Consultant ENT Surgeon, Ear, Nose and Throat Department, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Foundation Trust; Norfolk, UK., in ENT & Audiology News (December 2015)

"This exceptional book 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, Medical-Legal Evaluation of Hearing Loss examines claims, court cases, and the evolution of hearing conservation. It extensively 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. Dr. Dobie has included tutorial discussions of acoustics, hearing, and hearing testing - a valuable resource for attorneys, paraprofessionals, and other non-clinicians."
—Antony Joseph, Editor, in CAOHC Update e-Newsletter (2016)

"...It is clear that this book would be an invaluable resource for anyone involved in litigating or serving as an expert witness in hearing loss cases. But there is even more. As an occupational medicine physician, I found the chapters discussing hearing loss to be intriguing, in that Dr. Dobie provides an objective evaluation of these subjects so that the reader can really understand the scientific basis for the current practice of hearing loss prevention. I also applaud Dr. Dobie for pointing out the many inconsistencies in data and his illumination of controversies in these hearing loss subjects...This book clearly accomplishes its stated objective. I feel it is an invaluable text for those involved in hearing loss issues, and from my perspective, noise-induced hearing loss. This book joins the AIHA Noise Manual, CAOHC's Hearing Conservation Manual, and Vishakha Rawool's Hearing Conservation as essentials in understanding this subject."
—Donald Bruce Kirchner, MD, MPH, FACOEM, Spectrum newsletter of the National Hearing Conservation Association (April 2016)

"This book is clearly written with professionals in mind. Each chapter is clearly and accurately titled and the body reads easily and is logically organised. The first few chapters are basic for audiologists as they review the basic of acoustics, ear anatomy, and hearing testing. Chapter 4 is a good discussion on exaggerated hearing loss written by the late Jack Synder and lightly edited by Dobie. (For a more thorough discussion of the topic, I recommend Pseudohypacusis: False and Exaggerated Hearing Loss by James Peck (2011)—also by Plural Publishing). . . . In summary, this book is a good read for audiologists who find themselves becoming immersed in the legal world of hearing loss."
—Thomas Thunder, Acoustic Associates, Ltd., Huntely, IL, USA Rush University, Chicago, IL, USA, in the International Journal of Audiology (June 2017)

Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 2. Acoustics

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 3. The Ear and Hearing Tests

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 4. Audiologic Evaluation for Exaggerated Hearing Loss

Jack M. Snyder (updated by Robert A. Dobie)

Chapter 5. Impairment, Handicap, and Disability

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 6. Age-Related Hearing Loss

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 7. Noise-Induced Hearing Loss and Acoustic Trauma

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 8. Nonoccupational NIHL

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 9. The Evolution of Hearing Conservation Programs

Dennis P. Driscoll

Chapter 10. Other Otologic Disorders

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 11. Legal Remedies for Hearing Loss

Thomas R. Jayne

Chapter 12. Otologic Evaluation

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 13. Diagnosis and Allocation

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 14. Reporting

Robert A. Dobie

Chapter 15. The Expert Witness

Thomas R. Jayne

Appendix A. Typical Noise Levels/Exposures
Appendix B. Workers' Compensation Practices in the United States and Canada
Appendix C. List of Abbreviations'