Get a load of how George Harrison’s <$NoAd$> estate says his oncologist treated him in the days before he died. This from today’s Times …
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.
Lederman has already been fined by the New York State Health Department for discussing Harrison’s final days with the press without permission.
