TDCAA Community
Diagnosis by History

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https://tdcaa.infopop.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2623030567/m/7261054411

January 17, 2006, 12:50
James E. Cook
Diagnosis by History
Does anyone know of any literature or reported cases dealing with "diagnosis by history?"

Some appellate courts have held that a medical witness in a no-finding sexual assault case who says "sexual assault by history" is merely bolstering the victim's testimony by vouching for credibility.

That seems to me to be incorrect. How could a diagnosis of migraine headache or depression, e.g., ever be made without a doctor relying on the patient's input? The diagnosis is not absolute, but merely conditional. If the patient is correctly reporting the symptoms then the diagnois can be made, so long as other symptoms or physical finding are not inconsistent with it.

Has the medical community ever weighed in on this issue?