David J. Fletcher, MD, MPH, FACOEM, an Occupational Medicine Specialist with SafeWorks Illinois Occupational Health Services, Ltd.

Get to know Occupational Medicine Specialist Dr. David J. Fletcher, who serves patients in Illinois.

An occupational medicine specialist, Dr. Fletcher is the Medical Director & CEO of SafeWorks Illinois Occupational Health Services, Ltd., one of the country’s premier private occupational medicine programs. His private practice performs in excess of one thousand Department of Transportation (DOT) commercial driver medical examinations annually.

In addition to being the Medical Director & CEO of SafeWorks Illinois, Dr. Fletcher is a certified Medical Review Officer (MRO), a certified Substance Abuse Professional (SAP), and a Senior Federal Aviation Administration Examiner (FAA – all three classes).

Having served as a medical expert witness for 35+ years, his objectivity has proven invaluable for serving as an expert for both petitioners/plaintiffs as well as for respondents/defendants. He has provided expert witness services in 41 states. His special expertise lies in complex trucking and bus accident litigation involving the medical fitness-for-duty of a driver.

His other specialties include fitness-for-duty/return-to-work evaluation, complex disability management, substance abuse assessments, and job site analysis.

Additional services provided by Dr. Fletcher are independent medical evaluations (IME), American Medical Association (AMA) permanent partial impairment (PPI) ratings, development of life care plans, and medical record reviews.

A 1980 graduate of Rush Medical College in Chicago, Dr. Fletcher went on to perform his internship at Tripler Army Medical Center in 1981 followed by training at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He then obtained a master’s in public health degree at the University of California School of Public Health in 1982 and completed his residency in preventive medicine/public health/occupational medicine in 1983. 

In April 1995, Dr. Fletcher developed the first national DOT medical certification training program for physicians at the American Occupational Health Conference (AOHC) in Las Vegas, Nevada and in advocating for the development of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) National Registry Certified Medical Examiner (NRCME) system to certify medical examiners, which became operational in 2014.  

Dr. Fletcher has been consistently retained by both sides of the bar because he stands behind his opinions and has not wavered in more than 1500 depositions and live trial testimony settings throughout his career. He has continued to maintain his professional integrity as an expert by not overly expanding the areas of his expertise, and in providing opinions only in those cases within those practice areas.

For Dr. Fletcher, one of the key elements to his credibility is being a practicing occupational medicine specialist with admitting privileges to OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center (HMMC) in Urbana, Illinois, where he serves on the OSF Community Council. Another key element is his ability to manage complex workers’ compensation and personal injury cases as the primary gatekeeper from the start of each case until the injured patient has reached maximum medical improvement (MMI).

Since 1986, Dr. Fletcher has treated more than 21,000 injured persons and has performed more than 20,000 DOT commercial vehicle driver medical examinations.

Dr. Fletcher’s expertise in treatment of injuries was recognized with his appointment to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission (IWCC) Medical Fee Advisory Board (MFAB) in 2016 by Republican governor, Bruce Rauner and his reappointment in 2020 by Democratic governor, J.B. Pritzker, with confirmation of his appointment by the Illinois Senate in 2021. Since 2011, Dr. Fletcher has served as the senior physician representative to the Worker’s Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) Illinois Advisory Committee

On a professional level, he is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a member of the Illinois State Medical Society, and a member of the American Medical Association, a member of the Central States Occupational Medicine Association, among others.

Occupational medicine is the branch of medicine concerned with the maintenance of health in the workplace, including prevention and treatment of diseases and injuries, with secondary objectives of maintaining and increasing productivity and social adjustment in the workplace. Occupational medicine specialists work to ensure that the highest standards of occupational health and safety are achieved and maintained in the workplace.

Dr. Fletcher has devoted his entire 35+ year career to making the Nation’s highways safer for all who travel, with particular regard to Interstate Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers, certified to drive by the Department of Transportation. This devotion to public safety has led to Dr. Fletcher being celebrated as one of the most sought-after expert witnesses in the United States regarding driver fitness.

Dr. Fletcher is intimately familiar with the regulatory requirements for medical certification for commercial motor vehicle drivers under the Federal motor carrier safety regulations, as well as FMCSA guidelines for determining fitness for driving.

In 1997, he authored the foreword to Dr. Natalie Hartenbaum’s book DOT Medical Examination, April 1997, OEM Press (First Edition), which is now in its Seventh Edition.

In October of 2017, Dr. Fletcher was named as the first Frank Leone Award recipient. This award is named after the founder of the National Association of Occupational Health Professionals (NAOHP) for national leadership in the occupational health field.

Learn More about Dr. David J. Fletcher:

Through his findatopdoc profile, https://www.findatopdoc.com/doctor/3634229-David-Fletcher-family-practitioner-Champaign-IL-61822, through his website, https://drfletcherexpertwitness.com/about-dr-david-fletcher-expert-medical-witness/ or through SafeWorks Illinois Occupational Health Services, Ltd., https://safeworksillinois.com/our-team/ 

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