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of my patients ever cried, and I never had to tell them they had just
six months to live.”
On January 1, 1998, Dr. Nichols jumped the tracks on his
own career path, stepping down from his office of Chief Medical
Examiner to open Commonwealth Medical Legal Services, Inc.
According to their website, the organization “assists legal and
health care professionals involved in medical malpractice, personal
injury, workers’ compensation, wrongful death and nursing home
negligence cases.” In other words, In other words, Dr. Nichols testifies
in court, a lot, more than 1,000 times by his estimation.
“Since the late 90s, I’ve done what’s known as ‘Clinical Forensic
Medicine.’ That’s the application of principles of forensic science to
allegedly injured people. First question: is it an injury? Second: If
so, how did it come to be? And third: What is its legal significance?
There weren’t many people trained in the legal aspect as well as the
mechanisms by which the injuries came to be. That’s why I stepped
up and started doing it.”
Near the end of his interview, the question was posed: “What
makes a satisfying conclusion in a forensic pathology case?”
“Well, number one, if you know the cause and manner of death
and you can figure out why the cause came to be, that’s a winner. It
can be a natural death, an accident, a homicide, a suicide or, if you
32
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
don’t know, undetermined. And, certainty is defined in medicine
as 95%. It’s never 100%. It can’t be. People make errors. Honesty
to a physician is being unafraid to use the phrase ‘I don’t know.’”
Now that he’s been in this second phase of his career for more
than 20 years, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. “One of my
employees is 62. I need to keep this thing going for a few more years
and keep her until Medicare. You can’t just abandon someone after
all these years. I’m not a Wall Street asshole. Besides, rocking chairs
have killed plenty of men, so I’m not sitting down yet.”
For fun, Dr. Nichols has given up boating, avoided fishing and
never taken an interest in golf. He prefers to spend time with his
family, including his brother Tom who runs the business side of
Dr. Nichols’ work.
“I’m proud of my family. And, I’m proud of the 20 years of my
life spent developing a medical examiner’s office. When I started,
it was just me. When I left, it was fully staffed with 11 doctors in
four centers around the state. Not bad,” he admitted. “Still, this is
the only thing I know how to do! I like to say, ‘I’m just a poor old
boy from the West End, trying to keep in Falls City Beer and White
Castle Hamburgers.’”
Aaron Burch is the communications specialist for the Greater Louisville Medical Society.