At the Round Table with Public Health Expert, Jim O'Reilly

In this episode…Our guest,  Jim O'Reilly, is a Professor at the Public Health Department of Environmental Health, College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. Jim O’Reilly is the last survivor of the group that negotiated the 1975-76 medical device amendments. He was the chair of a 8,000-member American Bar Association's section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice. His first book in 1976 was rejected four times by four publishers, but went on to become a bestseller on FDA regulatory law. He went on to write 56 books and awaits the committee's decision by Thomson Reuters West on his 57th book. On this episode, Michelle Loux interviews Jim about his journey as an expert witness in public health. A career highlight was occurred on March 20th, 2000, when his phone rang and the person on the other end said, "Professor, this is John Doe from the Washington Post. What do you think of the United States Supreme Court calling you the expert on FDA law?"  That recognition from the Supreme Court launched his career in new ways as an expert witness. From his years of experience as an arbitrator to being an advisor in a special project for the Deputy Secretary General of the European Union and meeting with 23 other countries to discuss regulatory law, to currently teaching public health, he has an appreciation of what it means to be a successful expert witness. He shares that being an expert witness is a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so be attentive to the limitations  . . . try to be as middle of the road as you can, you want to have good foundational support."