Wouldn't let him be

[greedy_lars]

By JOHN MARZULLI, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

George Harrison was forced to autograph a guitar on his deathbed for his Staten Island cancer doctor - and even had to endure an impromptu concert by the physician's 12-year-old son, a new bombshell lawsuit charges.


When the ailing Beatle told Dr. Gilbert Lederman he didn't believe he could even remember how to spell his world-famous name, the doctor allegedly grabbed his hand and guided the musician, letter by letter, through the signature.

"Dr. Lederman preyed upon Mr. Harrison while he was in a greatly deteriorated mental and physical condition" just two weeks before his death, charges a $10 million lawsuit filed yesterday in Brooklyn Federal Court by the legendary performer's estate.

Harrison's widow, Olivia, and their son, Dhani, also are seeking the autographed electric guitar signed shortly before the death of the intensely private Beatle in November 2001 at age 58.

The suit contends Lederman, who treated Harrison at Staten Island University Hospital, created a "circus atmosphere" by giving numerous press interviews and disclosing confidential information about the guitarist's treatment.

But Lederman's "most offensive, insensitive, bizarre and inappropriate" act, according to the suit, was bringing his son and two daughters to a Staten Island home where Harrison was staying while undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery treatment.

"Dr. Lederman took the children into the room where Mr. Harrison was bedridden and in great discomfort," the suit states. "Dr. Lederman had Mr. Harrison listen to his son play the guitar. Afterwards he took the guitar ... and put it in Mr. Harrison's lap" and asked him to sign it.

Harrison resisted, telling Lederman, "I do not even know if I know how to spell my name anymore," the suit says.

At that point, the suit alleges, Lederman said, "Come on, you can do this." He then held the right hand that had picked so many classic solos and guided Harrison through the autograph.

A photograph of the doctor's son Ariel holding the guitar appeared in the National Enquirer two weeks after Harrison's death.

Ariel, now 14, and Lederman's daughters Eve, 10, and Sarah, 18, who allegedly received autographed cards from Harrison, also are named as defendants in the suit.

Harrison estate lawyer Paul LiCalsi said yesterday the legal action could have been averted had Lederman simply returned the autographed items and pledged not to talk anymore about the Beatle's health care.

He said Olivia Harrison has even offered to replace the guitar. "Objects associated with dead celebrities obviously have a market," LiCalsi said. "This kind of trafficking is ghoulish and reprehensible."

Lederman's lawyer Wayne Roth said the doctor, whose voice is heard on radio commercials for the hospital, has no desire to sell the guitar - but noted it had been appraised by Sotheby's at between $5,000 and $6,000.

"It's his son's guitar, and the Harrison family doesn't have any right to that guitar," Roth said. "I think patients sign things out of gratitude for their physicians all the time ... and when the truth comes out, you'll learn the extent of the relationship between Dr. Lederman and Harrison and the circumstances under which it was signed."

A spokeswoman for the hospital, which isalso named in the suit, said in a statement, "We have not violated patient confidentiality."

Lederman, the hospital's director of radiation oncology, was reprimanded last month by the state Health Department for gabbing about Harrison and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

source

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fuck man, thats low. hope he looses his liscence, bastard.

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George Harrison Autograph Case Settled
Sat Jan 17,11:04 AM ET

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK - The estate of George Harrison has settled its lawsuit against a doctor it accused of coercing the dying ex-Beatle into signing a guitar belonging to the doctor's son.

The guitar "will be disposed of privately" and Harrison's estate will give a new guitar to Ariel Lederman, the 14-year-old son of the doctor who treated Harrison for cancer two weeks before his death, according to a joint statement read aloud Friday in federal court. No further details were available.


The settlement came 10 days after the lawsuit was filed against Dr. Gilbert Lederman, his three children and his employer, Staten Island University Hospital.


"George Harrison's music spoke to the heart and soul of my generation," said Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, who presided over the settlement. He said the agreement "preserves the dignity and protects the privacy of all concerned."


Harrison, 58, died in November 2001 after battling lung cancer and a brain tumor.


Two weeks before his death, the lawsuit alleged, Harrison was coerced by Lederman into signing autographs at a house near the Staten Island hospital. Lederman directs the hospital's radiation oncology department, which is known for treating large tumors with high doses of radiation.


Lederman entered uninvited with his three children and had Harrison listen to his son play the guitar before asking the musician to sign the instrument and two cards, the suit charged.


It alleged that the musician tried to resist, saying, "I do not even know if I know how to spell my name anymore."


Lederman held Harrison's hand as the musician wrote his name on the guitar "with great effort and much obvious discomfort," according to the suit. The estate sought possession of the guitar and the two cards.


The agreement prevents all parties from commenting on the dispute or its settlement. It stipulated that it does not indicate wrongdoing by Lederman, his children or the hospital.