ABOUT
Beacon Hill Medical Consulting
Beacon Hill Medical Consulting provides independent clinical and scientific analysis of complex medical issues arising in legal matters.
Led by Esteban González Burchard, M.D., M.P.H., a physician-scientist and Distinguished Endowed Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco, the practice integrates patient-specific clinical evidence with relevant medical, epidemiologic, and scientific evidence.
Each engagement begins with the medical and scientific question rather than a predetermined conclusion. Evidence supporting and challenging a proposed conclusion is evaluated, reasonable alternative explanations are considered, and areas of uncertainty are identified.
The evidence determines the conclusion.
Clinical
Expertise
Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary Medicine
Scientific
Expertise
Epidemiology, genetics, population science, and clinical pharmacology
Evidence Integration
Patient-specific clinical evidence integrated with medical and scientific evidence
Independent Analysis
Conclusions developed in proportion to the strength of the evidence
Areas of Expertise
Clinical Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
- Complex multisystem disease
Epidemiology and Population Science
- Epidemiology and clinical epidemiology
- Population health
- Genetics and genetic epidemiology
- Gene-environment interactions
- Population differences in disease susceptibility
Environmental and Occupational Health
- Occupational and environmental lung disease
- Environmental and occupational exposures
- Exposure-related disease
- Individual and population differences in exposure response
Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutic Response
- Clinical pharmacology
- Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics
- Individual and population differences in drug response
- Critical evaluation of therapeutic evidence
Medical-Legal Services
Beacon Hill provides independent medical and scientific consultation to attorneys and organizations addressing complex medical questions.
Services include:
- Medical record review and clinical synthesis
- Independent medical analysis
- Medical and scientific literature review
Esteban González Burchard, M.D., M.P.H.
The Beacon Hill Approach
Begin With the Question, Not the Answer
Complex medical questions often involve incomplete information, conflicting evidence, and legitimate scientific uncertainty.
Beacon Hill approaches each matter from a position of clinical and scientific equipoise. Patient-specific information is integrated with objective clinical findings and relevant medical, epidemiologic, and scientific evidence.
Evidence supporting and challenging a proposed conclusion is considered. Reasonable alternative explanations are evaluated. Missing information and unresolved uncertainty are identified rather than replaced by speculation.
Conclusions are developed in proportion to the strength of the available evidence and communicated clearly to both medical and nonmedical audiences.
A medical opinion should be no stronger than the evidence supporting it.
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