Re: Doc kills self after verdict
From: Lynn Montgomery, MD (apgar10@qwest.net)
Fri Sep 22 14:16:48 2006
Knew a well seasoned orthopedist who was filed against. The large
multispecialty clinic he was with suggested settlement. The med-mal carrier
assigned an attorney he didn't like, who also suggested settlement. The
orthopedist was adamant about not having done anything wrong. He spent his
own money and hired his own attorney and prevailed. He said it had nothing
to do with money, it was the principle and he wasn't going to be bullied
into submission or have his reputation tarnished.
Lynn
--
Lynn D. Montgomery, M.D.
Obstetrics & Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine
The Birth Center/Rocky Mountain Women's Health
1211 S. Reserve St.
Missoula, Montana, 59801
406-549-0978
fax 406-549-0987
e-mail: apgar10@qwest.net
_____
From: ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net [mailto:ob-gyn-l@obgyn.net] On Behalf Of
ND84MD@aol.com
Sent: Friday, September 22, 2006 10:37 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list OB-GYN-L
Subject: Doc kills self after verdict
anyone else hear about this?
Doctor kills self after malpractice verdict
Lawrence Grey, who specialized in vasectomy reversals, had been ordered to
pay a former patient $1-million.
By BILL COATS, Times Staff Writer
Published May 4, 2006
TAMPA - On Friday afternoon, Dr. Lawrence Grey listened in a Hillsborough
County courtroom as a jury announced its verdict: He should pay a former
patient $1-million.
Late Friday night, Grey's wife found him dead in their $2-million Bayshore
Boulevard home, hanging in a bedroom closet from a yellow nylon rope.
Grey's apparent suicide left lawyers in the malpractice case reeling.
Jeffrey Hunter, the Tampa lawyer who represented Grey, heard about the death
Saturday night after a family outing.
"I was shocked," Hunter said Wednesday. "I still am."
Timothy Moran, the Jacksonville lawyer who represented the former patient,
learned of Grey's death Wednesday from a Times reporter.
"I never intended for something like that to happen," Moran said. "I blame
his insurance company for not doing the right thing."
Moran said he offered to settle the case for $250,000, the limit of Grey's
insurance coverage, and later for $175,000, but was turned down.
If the jury's verdict of $1,005,000 stands, Grey's business will be liable
for $755,000.
Hunter wouldn't comment on the settlement decisions. He said he intends to
ask for a new trial. If denied, he plans to appeal.
Grey, a 51-year-old urologist, specialized in microsurgery that reversed
vasectomies, restoring his patients' abilities to father children.
Grey marketed himself online as the Vas Doctor. That's a reference to the
vas deferens, the narrow tube through which sperm travels from the
testicles, and which a surgeon snips in a vasectomy.
Grey used laser tools and techniques that he developed, he told the Tampa
Bay Business Journal in a profile three years ago.
"The microbeam is strictly my own creation," Grey said in the profile. "The
laser beam gives you a cleaner, more precise cut with less damage to
tissue."
Hunter said Grey recently was performing 400 to 450 vasectomy reversals a
year.
In August 2002, he operated on Thomas Asimos, a Navy criminal investigator
based in Jacksonville.
Asimos later hired Moran to sue Grey's practice, contending that Grey left
two 3-inch squares of gauze inside Asimos' scrotum. They caused pain and
infection and eliminated Asimos' ability to enjoy sex, according to court
documents.
Hunter argued that another doctor, perhaps the one who did Asimos' vasectomy
in 1998, must have left the gauze behind. Grey used larger gauze pads. He
accounted for each pad he used, and employed a technique that made losing
such a pad unlikely, Hunter said.
During last week's trial, Grey seemed fine, Hunter said.
"He was upbeat," said Moran. "He was very cordial. He was friendly."
The suit wasn't personal, Moran said. He sued Grey's business, but not Grey.
He sought insurance proceeds, not Grey's personal assets, Moran said.
The jury of four women and two men found that Grey was negligent. It decided
Asimos deserved $205,000 in past and future medical expenses and $800,000 in
damages.
After finding Grey's body, his wife Muriel told a Tampa police detective
that her husband "was despondent over having to pay a $750,000 judgment,"
according to a case summary from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's
Office.
The detective reported that Grey's medications on hand included an anxiety
drug and several antidepressants. A toxicology report is pending.
By this week, the Vas Doctor Web page was stripped of most content and given
a tribute to Grey.
"His life's work was devoted to bring life and joy to others," it said in
part. "He will be remembered for not only his dedication to his work, but
his exceptional attitude on life and the simple pleasures it can bring to
each of us."
Bill Coats can be reached at 813 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com
[Last modified May 4, 2006, 00:58:04]
