Stay Away from George Harrison's Oncologist

[JPhillips]

If this is true I hope this guy is never allowed to practice medicine again.

From the NYTimes

Beatle's Estate Sues Doctor Over Breach of Privacy
By WILLIAM GLABERSON

Published: January 7, 2004


he estate of George Harrison, the former Beatle who died of cancer in 2001, sued a Staten Island doctor yesterday, claiming he exploited Mr. Harrison for "shameless self-promotion" in Mr. Harrison's final days, revealing confidential information to reporters and coercing him to sign autographs.

The doctor, Gilbert Lederman, the director of radiation oncology at Staten Island University Hospital, which widely advertises his stereotactic radiosurgery cancer treatment, was portrayed in the suit as violating Mr. Harrison's privacy to bask in the glow of a famous patient. The suit, which also names the hospital, seeks millions of dollars in damages and the return of autographed items.

Two weeks before Mr. Harrison died at age 58, the suit said, the doctor took his children to the Staten Island house where Mr. Harrison was struggling with his deteriorating condition. It said he had Mr. Harrison listen to the doctor's son play a guitar, placed the guitar in Mr. Harrison's lap and asked him to sign it.

"Mr. Harrison, who was weak and exhausted," the suit said, "resisted and said, `I do not even know if I know how to spell my name anymore.' Dr. Lederman reached out to hold Mr. Harrison's hand to help him write and said, `Come on, you can do this,' and spelled out Mr. Harrison's name for him beginning with the letter "G" and continuing to spell the entire name, 'E-O-R-G-E H-A-R-R-I-S-O-N."

The suit said the doctor had refused to turn over the guitar and two autographs Mr. Harrison signed on cards for the doctor's daughters. It also said the doctor had promoted himself with network television appearances and in interviews with national publications.

It said the added attention meant Mr. Harrison's family had to vastly increase security, and it sought compensation for those costs and Mr. Harrison's added suffering.

Dr. Lederman, reached at home, referred calls to his lawyer, Wayne M. Roth, who said he could not discuss the details of the suit because he had not seen it.

But he said the doctor "obviously denies that he used Mr. Harrison for self-promotion." He added, "I don't see any basis at all for them bringing an action to have the child's guitar returned." A spokeswoman for the hospital, Arleen Ryback, said: "Staten Island University Hospital regards patient confidentiality very seriously and has not violated patient confidentiality."

A lawyer for Mr. Harrison's estate, Paul V. LiCalsi, said Mr. Harrison's wife, Olivia, had urged the executors to file the suit because she was offended by Dr. Lederman's actions. He said that lawyers for the estate had tried to avoid a suit but that the doctor had refused a request to exchange the autographed guitar for another one and had declined to turn over the other autographs.

The suit claimed the doctor may have known that the value of the autographs "would increase if they were signed on Mr. Harrison's `deathbed.' "

In November, Dr. Lederman signed an agreement with the New York State Health Department, which had investigated allegations of professional misconduct. The agency had claimed he "revealed to news agencies" information about an unidentified patient without the patient's consent. That patient died on Nov. 29, 2001, the day of Mr. Harrison's death.

In the agreement he said he would not contest the allegations but agreed to a censure and a fine of $5,000.

The suit filed yesterday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn said that Dr. Lederman went on television before and after Mr. Harrison's death, though he had been directed not to. After one meeting at which the suit said he had been told not to speak publicly, the suit said his "shocking response" was that he wanted to be sure that people learned about the treatment he offered.

After a television appearance, when Mr. Harrison was still alive, Dr. Lederman declined to confirm to Bryant Gumbel that Mr. Harrison was his patient, saying "we don't speak about our patients." But after that program, the suit said, "the floodgates of publicity opened," with reporters descending on the hospital and following members of Mr. Harrison's family.

Within hours of Mr. Harrison's death, the suit said, Dr. Lederman appeared on NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox News, and spoke to Time, Newsweek and The National Enquirer.

[samifan24]

He sounds like a pretty classy guy to me.

[Draft Dodger]

sounds like a frivolous lawsuit to me