Dale E. Panzer, M.D.

Dale E. Panzer, M.D. is among a select group of experts double-board certified in Psychiatry and Brain Injury Medicine by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

During his decades-long career, Dr. Panzer is experienced in high-stakes, high-value litigation. He has testified in civil and probate litigation, undue influence and capacity cases; class-action, and mass and toxic tort lawsuits.

He adds a unique and highly specialized medical-legal perspective to cases spanning hundreds of forensic psychiatric assessments and expert reports for plaintiff and defense.

Dr. Panzer complements his medical-legal services with a vibrant practice in clinical psychiatry and neuropsychiatry. He treats a broad range of mental disorders, including patients with catastrophic injuries and reversible and permanent brain injuries. He is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the Drexel University School of Medicine and is an invited speaker at Pennsylvania Bar CLE programs.

Services

Dr. Panzer offers the following services:

-Independent Medical Examination (IME)
-Review of records, medical, medication, hospital, treatment, legal, depositions, testimony, criminal, physician and psychologist notes
-Reports
-Testimony, Deposition and Trial
-Probate cases
-Testamentary Capacity Evaluations
-Case Merit
-Fitness for Duty evaluations and return to work
-Consultation to attorneys as a non-disclosed Expert Witness
-Psychiatrist findings

Litigation Support Services

Dr. Panzer has been qualified in Federal, State and Administrative Courts and regularly provides opinions for both plaintiff and defense.

Areas of Expertise

Additional Expertise:

Competency To Stand Trial; CTST; Toxic Tort; Psychiatric Injury; Hypoxia; Brain Bleeds; Delirium; Criminal Behavior; Crime; Vehicle Accidents; Prognosis; Care Assessment; Diagnosis; Pain and Suffering; Rehabilitation; Recovery; Prognosis; Senior Citizen; Elder Abuse; Testator; Executor.

Profile

Dr. Panzer is a Psychiatrist with over 25 years of clinical experience. He has served as an Expert Witness and forensic evaluator since 2010. Dr. Panzer has conducted hundreds of forensic assessments and testified in dozens of cases including high-stakes litigation in Mass Tort, PI, and Probate cases. Dr. Panzer has regularly lectured about Will Contests, Undue Influence and Psychiatry, and has significant experience testifying in such cases.

Dr. Panzer is actively involved with the education of psychiatrists, forensic psychiatrists on the faculty of Drexel University School of Medicine, and presents to attorneys at the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Dr. Panzer is co-Chair of the Forensic Neuropsychiatry Committee of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

He has organized and participated in Panels at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry & the Law on Advanced Topics in Forensic Neuropsychiatry (2022) and Proving and Disproving Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence (2020). He is a regularly invited speaker and Panelist at continuing legal education Institutes of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Dr. Panzer maintains an active clinical practice in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, as well as at physical medicine and rehabilitation hospital Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital as a psychiatric consultant where he treats patients with catastrophic injuries such as amputations, burn injuries, dementias, spinal cord injuries, concussions, and traumatic brain injuries. Dr. Panzer applies this clinical experience when offering plaintiff and defense opinions in personal injury.

With additional board certification in Brain Injury Medicine, Dr. Panzer has extensive experience in cases across the full spectrum of traumatic brain injury and concussion as well as Alzheimer's and Dementias.

Dr. Panzer has participated in several class action litigations assessing psychiatric claims of first responders, individuals exposed to hazardous chemical spills, and individuals with pre-existing post-traumatic stress disorder in a product liability case.

Areas Served

All States, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, Virginia.

Professional Experience

1997-Present Dale E. Panzer, M.D. Private Practice, Psychiatry, Gladwyne and Paoli, PA
Adult and adolescent psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and medication treatment where indicated.

2010-Present Dale E. Panzer, M.D. Private Practice, Medical-Legal Consultant and Expert Witness
Forensic Evaluator: Psychiatry and Brain Injury Medicine
Forensic assessment and findings in legal matters. Consultant, expert evaluator, testifying Expert Witness.

2007-present Psychiatric Consultant, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital
Actively engaged in the psychiatric evaluation and treatment of individuals across a full spectrum of cognitive/medical conditions, including concussion / traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, chronic pain, stroke, dementia, psychosomatics, work-related injury, malingering, factitious disorder, MVA, and self-inflicted injury)

2017-2018 Psychiatric Consultant, Geriatric Patients
Perform Assessment and treatment of elderly residents with a range of diagnoses including Dementia, Delirium, Depression, Pseudo-dementia, Stroke, Sundowning, Agitation, Impulsivity, Drug Interactions, Medication side effects.

Beaumont Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing, Gladwyne, PA
Quadrangle Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing, Haverford, PA

2001-2004 Medical Director and Campus Chief, Paoli Memorial Hospital
Performed administrative and clinical responsibilities across a spectrum of psychiatric services, including an inpatient psychiatric unit, emergency room, and general medical hospital psychiatric consultation.

1998-2001 Co-Medical Director, Medical-Psychiatric Unit, Hahnemann University Hospital
Performed at the only tertiary care inpatient medical-psychiatry unit in the Delaware Valley. Worked with patients requiring both medical and psychiatric treatments that required inpatient hospitalization. Collaborated with internal medicine consultants and medical sub-specialists in the management of medical-psychiatric patients.

1997-1998 Unit Chief, Substance Abuse Program, Medical College of Pennsylvania
Treated patients in a dual psychiatric and substance abuse unit. Provided acute detoxification, evaluation of substance abuse problems, and directed clinical treatment team for patients with substance abuse and dependency problems.

Licenses

Pennsylvania Medical License #MD050187L

Legal Experience & Services

Extensive. Refer to CV.

Affiliations

American Psychiatric Association
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Co-Chair Neuropsychiatry Committee
Member of Ethics Committee, Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital
Pennsylvania Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education, Invited Panelist and Speaker
Pennsylvania Medical Society
American Medical Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia
Diplomat National Board of Medical Examiners

Qualifications

Board Certification: Psychiatry ABPN #45301
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (1991-Present)

Board Certification: Brain Injury Medicine ABPN# 139
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (2018-Present)

Awards & Honors

Refer to CV

Seminars & Training

Certification: Adult Forensic Certificate Program on insanity defense, competency to stand trial restoration, and malingering at the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy of the University of Virginia (2022).

Attorney Education Presentations, CLE

Dr. Panzer is honored to be a CLE presenter and panelist to the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.

Supported Decision Making in Adult Guardianship
Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Elder Law Institute. CLE. (2020)

What Does Diminished Capacity Really Mean?: Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Medical and Financial Power of Attorney & Guardianship.
Invited Co-Presenter. Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Estate Law Institute. CLE. 2019.

Why Can't Lawyers and Psychiatrists Speak the Same Language?
Estate Law Institute. Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Elder Law Institute. Ethics CLE. 2019.

Special Needs Trust Planning for Individuals with Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders.
Elder Law Institute. Pennsylvania Bar Institute, CLE. Invited co-presenter, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's 2018 Elder Law Institute. (CLE)

Bridging The Gap Between Lawyers' and Psychiatrists' Understanding of Mental Capacities: Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Medical and Financial Power of Attorney & Guardianship.
Invited co-presenter, Estate Law Institute. Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Ethics CLE. 2019, 2017, 2012.

Evidence for Elder Law Attorneys: Proving and Defending Undue Influence.
Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Elder Law Institute. 2012.

Medical and Legal Perspectives on Incapacity and Undue Influence.
Invited Panelist. Elder Law Institute. Pennsylvania Bar Institute. 2012.

Evidence for Elder Law Attorneys: Proving and Defending Undue Influence.
Elder Law Institute. Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Elder Law Institute. 2012.

Publications

Persistent Neuropsychiatric Complications of Covid-19 Infection: American Academy Psychiatry and the Law Newsletter: Fall 2022 Vol 47. No 3

The Use of Multiple Models in Clinical Practice. Panel Report. National and International Thought Leaders. 97th Annual Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Waldorf Astoria, New York. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 56 (2) June 2008

Chancellor, M.B. Rivas, D.A. Panzer, D.E. Freedman, M.K. Staas, W.E. Prospective Comparison of Topical Minoxidil to Vacuum Constriction Device and Intracorporeal Papaverine Injection in the Treatment of Impotence Due to Spinal Cord Injury. Urology. 43 (3): 365-9. March 1994

Panzer, D. E. Paraplegia Due to Radiation Myelitis. J.Am. Paraplegia Society. 16:96. June 1993 (abstract)

Panzer, D. E. et al. Topical Minoxidil in the Treatment of Impotence Due to Spinal Cord Injury. J. Am. Paraplegia Society. 16: 107. June 1993 (abstract)

Professional References

Call for references

Education

1990 M.D., Hahnemann University School of Medicine (Now Drexel University School of Medicine)
1985 A.B. History, Duke University (Magna Cum Laude)

Residency Training
1994-1997 Residency, Psychiatry, Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital
1991-1994 Residency, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
1990-1991 Internship, Internal Medicine, Pennsylvania Hospital

Psychoanalytic Training
2003-2007 Psychoanalytic Training, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia