posted by admin on Mar 10
1
1 COMMONWEALTH OF K.
WARREN CIRCUIT C.
2 DIVISION NO. II
3 S.K, INDIVIDUALLY, )
AND AS ADMINISTRATRIX )
4 OF THE ESTATE OF )
K.T.K., )
5 )
PLAINTIFFS, )
6 )
vs. ) C.Action No.
7 )
C.W.D., M.D., ET AL., )
8 )
DEFENDANTS. )
9 ——————————————————-
10 TELEPHONE DEPOSITION OF
11 F.H.B., M.D.
12 Monday, date
13 ——————————————————-
APPEARANCES:
14
For the Plaintiffs: Hon. Zev T. Gershon
15 Hon. Robin R. Smith
Attorneys at Law
16
17
18 For Defendant D.: Hon. D.G.
Attorney at Law
19 Citizens Plaza,
20
21 For Defendant Bowling Hon. M.R.
______________ County Attorney at Law
22 Community Hospital
Corporation:
23
24
Reported by:
25 Patricia W. Smith, RPR, CCR
2
1 The telephone deposition of F.
2 H.B., M.D. was taken by counsel for the
3 Plaintiffs, with Dr. B., Mr. R., and the C.
4 reporter present in his office at V. University
5 Medical Center North,
6 A., on Monday, Date, beginning at
7 approximately 10:20 a.m., for all purposes allowed
8 under the K. Rules of C. Procedure.
9 It is agreed that Patricia W. Smith,
10 Registered Professional Reporter, and notary public for
11 the State of A. at Large, may swear the witness,
12 take the deposition, and afterwards reduce same to
13 typewritten form, and that the reading and signing of
14 the completed deposition by the witness is waived.
15 ——————————————————-
16 INDEX
17 F.H.B., M.D.: PAGES
18 Examination by Mr. Gershon …………… 3 – 106
19 EXHIBITS
20 NUMBER DESCRIPTION PAGE
21 1 Curriculum Vitae of F.H. 4
B., M.D.
22
2(a) Page of handwritten notes of 15
23 Dr. B.
24 2(b) Page of handwritten notes of 15
Dr. B.
25
3
1 F.H.B., M.D.,
2 having been duly sworn, was examined and testified
3 as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6 BY MR. GERSHON:
7 Q. Doctor, could you give us your name and
8 address for the record, please.
9 A. Yes. F.H.B., V. Medical
10 Center, N., A.
11 Q. Okay. Dr. B., as you know, my name is
12 Zev Gershon. I’m going to be asking you a series of
13 questions. If at any time you do not understand one of
14 my questions, please tell me so or ask me to rephrase
15 it. If you do answer, though, I will assume you
16 understood the question, and I’ll hold you to your
17 answer.
18 Do you understand?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Great.
21 I have a copy of your Curriculum Vitae
22 dated Date. Is that the most current one
23 there is?
24 A. There is one here in front of me dated
25 Date.
4
1 MR. GERSHON: Okay. If, Miss C.
2 Reporter, you could mark that as Deposition
3 Exhibit Number 1 at the end of the deposition, I would
4 appreciate it.
5 (Exhibit 1 entered.)
6 BY MR. GERSHON:
7 Q. Doctor, are there any significant changes
8 in your current C.V. from the one I have in front of
9 me?
10 A. You have the one of 1998?
11 Q. June, ‘98, yes, sir.
12 A. No, I don’t think there are any significant
13 differences.
14 Q. Okay. How about publication-wise; is there
15 something that you’ve published since June ‘98 that
16 pertains to issues in this case?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Okay. I’d like to ask you about article
19 number 26 on my page, I guess, 12. Can you turn to
20 that?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. Is that the correct citation?
23 A. Contemporary OB/GYN?
24 Q. Yes, sir.
25 A. As far as I know, it is.
5
1 Q. Okay. I tried to find the article in the
2 library, and I seem to have found something else.
3 Volume 9 and page 57 is the middle of another article.
4 So if you could double-check on that, I’d appreciate
5 it. I don’t know — do you have a copy of that article
6 somewhere?
7 A. You know, Williams Textbook in previous
8 editions — I don’t know about the most recent one –
9 but I know in previous editions did cite this
10 particular article. You might check with Williams
11 Textbook, and they may have a different citation. That
12 could be a typo or a problem that just they might be
13 able to correct for you.
14 Q. Under fetal heart variability in Williams
15 Text?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Okay. Fine.
18 I know you’re board certified, sir. Are
19 you recertified in OB/GYN?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Did you ever sit for recertification?
22 A. No. I was grandfathered in, so I don’t
23 have to do that.
24 Q. Well, I know you don’t have to do that. I
25 wanted to know if you did it nonetheless.
6
1 A. No, no. I was just explaining why I
2 didn’t. No, I have not sat.
3 Q. Okay. Sir, can you list for me the
4 material you were sent to review in connection with
5 this case?
6 A. I have in front of me the medical records
7 of the Medical Center at …for Ms. K.
8 and her child, infant boy K.. Along with that is a
9 complete set of fetal monitor tracings, starting from
10 the day of admission on the 6th of September, 1996.
11 And in addition, I have a number of
12 depositions, including those of Dr. D., Dr. David
13 Schwartz, S.K, Judith Martin, Mary Ann
14 Jeffries, Mary Wix, Sharon Hall, Dr. Emanual Friedman,
15 Dr. Harold Fogelson, Dr. Marcus Hermansen, and
16 Dr. Douglas Peeno.
17 And that is all I have had sent to me.
18 Q. Okay. Have you reviewed any other material
19 that was not sent to you?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Have you looked at any medical articles or
22 textbooks?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Have you discussed this case with any
25 health care providers?
7
1 A. No.
2 Q. Have you seen the policies and procedures
3 from the hospital?
4 A. No.
5 Q. Do you know any of the folks whose
6 depositions you reviewed?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Who?
9 A. I know Dr. D., and I know Dr. Friedman.
10 Q. How do you know Dr. D., and how do you
11 know Dr. Friedman?
12 A. Dr. D. is in our — in our referral
13 base area — Bowling Green, K. — sending
14 patients to V.periodically. And I have met
15 him when he came to some conferences over the years
16 here in N. and have spoken to him on the phone
17 as a consultant for many of his patients.
18 Dr. Friedman I met when I was a resident at
19 Yale-New Haven Hospital, and he lectured to us at a
20 seminar. That’s the first time I met him. And I have
21 occasionally met him since that time, but not in the
22 last probably 15 or 20 years. But I do know who he is.
23 Q. Okay. Sir, how much time have you spent in
24 connection with this case so far?
25 A. Probably somewhere around four to six
8
1 hours.
2 Q. And you reviewed all those depositions?
3 A. I read some more detailed than others. For
4 example, I read Dr. D. pretty much line for line.
5 I did not read in-depth Dr. Schwartz; he’s a
6 pathologist. And there were some others that I sort of
7 skimmed. But that’s about the time I spent in this
8 work.
9 Q. Okay. How much do you charge an hour for
10 your time in this sort of work, sir?
11 A. I went up in January from $250 to $300 an
12 hour, so in this particular case I have been charging
13 $250 an hour.
14 Q. How about for depositions?
15 A. Same.
16 Q. And trial testimony?
17 A. Same.
18 Q. Do you know when the trial is in this case?
19 A. No, I don’t.
20 Q. Okay. Assuming it’s in April, sir, do you
21 plan any out-of-the-country trips, or will you be
22 available for live testimony?
23 A. My plan is to be there live.
24 Q. Great. Okay. I know you have reviewed
25 medical records before, sir. And on how many occasions
9
1 have you done so?
2 A. Well, I’ve been reviewing cases for
3 attorneys since 1981. And in the last ten years or so
4 I have reviewed around 40 cases a year. So I’ve
5 probably reviewed some — certainly over 500.
6 Q. Okay. Let’s talk about, say, the last ten
7 years, and it’s about 40 cases a year. What’s the
8 breakdown plaintiff versus defendant?
9 A. The last time I looked, which was about a
10 year or so ago, it was 70 percent defense and 30
11 percent plaintiff. That’s a change from about ten
12 years ago, where it was more 60-40. But I’m — it’s
13 now 70-30.
14 Q. Okay. Is this something that’s considered
15 significantly skewed on behalf of the defendant?
16 A. Oh, I don’t think so. It’s first-come,
17 first-served. My secretary takes all the phone calls,
18 and I try not to even know if it’s plaintiff or defense
19 when I review the case. It just so happens, I think,
20 that that’s the breakdown.
21 Q. Okay. And is it a similar breakdown for
22 deposition and trial testimony?
23 A. No. In trial the — I’ve only been to
24 trial for a plaintiff once in the last — I think it’s
25 the last six years. Most of the plaintiff cases that I
10
1 get involved in seem to settle before trial. The — so
2 it’s obviously skewed toward the defense as far as
3 trial is concerned.
4 And deposition is pretty much still 70-30.
5 Q. Okay. Did any of the material you were
6 sent, sir, come with cover letters?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Do you still have them?
9 A. I have them.
10 Q. How many letters are there?
11 A. There’s one — the first one, dated
12 January 16th, 1998, is followed by four others. So
13 there’s a total of five letters — the first of
14 January 16, 1998, and the last February 19th, 1999.
15 MR. GERSHON: Okay. Miss C.
16 Reporter, if you can mark them at the end of the
17 deposition as Deposition Exhibits 2(a) through (e).
18 MR. R.: Zev, this is Murry.
19 I don’t have a problem with you
20 reviewing these. I really don’t see the relevance of
21 having them marked as exhibits to the deposition, so I
22 object to that. But I don’t have a problem with
23 sending you copies of these or having Dr. B. send
24 them directly to you.
25 MR. GERSHON: That’s fine. I just
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