“Jesus Christl” Randolph exclaimed.
Later, back in the courtroom, during the cross-examination, Randolph did as much damage control as he could. He brought out the fact that Regina did not know if Jeffrey was injecting himself with a drug or merely starting an
IV to rehydrate himself.
But Davidson was not done yet. He brought Sheila Dodenhoff to the stand.
And just like Regina, she glared at Jeffrey while she testified.
“Miss Dodenhoff,” Davidson intoned, “as the circulating nurse during Mrs.
Owen’s tragedy, did you ever notice anything strange about the defendant,
Dr. Rhodes?”
“Yes, I did,” Sheila said triumphantly.
“Would you please tell the court what you noticed,” Davidson said, obviously relishing the moment.
“I noticed his pupils were pinpoint,” Sheila said. “I noticed it because his eyes are so blue. In fact, I could barely see his pupils at all.”
Davidson’s next witness was a world-famous ophthalmologist from New York who’d written an exhaustive tome on the function of the pupil. After establishing his eminent credentials, Davidson asked the doctor to name the most common drug to cause pupils to contract to pinpoints-miosis, as the doctor preferred to call the condition.
“You mean a systemic drug or an eye drop?” the ophthalmologist asked.
:’A systemic drug,” Davidson said.
‘Morphine,” the ophthalmologist said confidently. He then commenced an incomprehensible lecture about the EdingerWestphal nucleus, but Davidson cut him off and turned the witness over to Randolph.
As the trial dragged on, Randolph had tried to rectify the damage, proposing that Jeffrey had taken paregoric for diarrhea. Since paregoric is compounded with tincture of opium, and since opium contains morphine, he proposed that the paregoric had caused Jeffrey’s constricted pupils. He also explained that Jeffrey had given himself an IV to treat flu symptoms, which are frequently caused by dehydration. But it was apparent that the jury did not buy these explanations, especially after Davidson brought a well-known and respected internist to the stand.
-Tell me, Doctor,” Davidson said unctuously, “is it common for doctors to give themselves IVs as it has been suggested that Dr. Rhodes had done?”
“No,” the internist said. “I’ve heard some scuttlebutt about gung-ho surgical residents doing such a thing, but even if such reports are true, it’s certainly not a common practice.”
The final blow in the trial came when Davidson called Marvin Hickleman to the stand. He was one of the OR orderlies.
“Mr. Hickleman,” Davidson said. “Did you clean OR fifteen after the Patty
Owen case?”
‘Yes, I did,” Marvin said.
‘I understand you found something in the biohazard disposal container on the side of the anesthesia machine. Could you tell the court what you found?”
Marvin cleared his throat. “I found an empty vial of Marcaine.”
“What concentration was the vial?” Davidson asked.
.,It was.75%,” Marvin said.
Jeffrey had leaned over and whispered to Randolph, “I used.5%. I’m sure of it.”
As if he’d overheard, Davidson then asked Hickleman: “Did you find any.5% vials?”
“No,” Marvin said, “I did not.”
On cross-examination, Randolph tried to discredit Marvin’s testimony, but only made things worse. “Mr. Hickleman, do you always go through the trash when you clean an operating room and check the concentration of the various drug containers?”
“Nopel”
“But you did on this particular case.”
.,Yup!”
“Can you tell us why?”
“The nursing supervisor asked me to.”
The final coup de grace was delivered by Dr. Leonard Simon from New York, a renowned anesthesiologist whim even Jeffrey recognized. Davidson got right to the point.
“Dr. Simon. Is.75% Marcaine recommended for obstetric epidural anesthesia?”
“Absolutely not,” Dr. Simon said. “In fact it is contraindicated. The warning is clearly labeled in the package insert and in the PDR. Every anesthesiologist knows that.”
“Can you tell us why it is contraindicated in obstetrics?”
“It was found to cause occasional serious reactions.”
“What kind of reactions, Doctor?”
“Central nervous system toxicity.”
“Does that mean seizures, Doctor?”
“Yes, it has been known to cause seizures.”
“What else?”
“Cardiac toxicity.”
“Meaning… T’
“Arrhythmias, cardiac arrest.”
“And these reactions were occasionally fatal?”
“That’s correct,” Dr. Simon said, pounding in the final nail of Jeffrey’s coffin.
The result had been that Jeffrey and Jeffrey alone was found guilty of malpractice. Simarian, Overstreet, the hospital, and the pharmaceutical company had been exonerated. The jury awarded the Patty Owen estate eleven million dollars: nine million more than Jeffrey’s malpractice coverage.