2

1 (0q(1 q I

2 State of Ohio,

3 County of Scioto.

4
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

6 WILLIAM NICHOLS, et al.,

7 Plaintiffs,
Case No. 93-CI-193
8 VS.
Judge Burton
9 FAMILY MEDI-CENTER,
et al.,
10
Defendants.
11

12 DEPOSITION OF PETER J. BROOKS, M.D.
Tuesday, September 27, 1994
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15 The deposition of PETER J. BROOKS, M.D., a

16 witness called for examination by the Plaintiffs

17 under the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, taken

18 before-me, Diane M. Stevenson, a Registered

19 Professional Reporter and Notary Public in and

20 for. the state of Ohio, by agreement of counsel,

21 at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid

22 Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, commencing at 9:40 a.m.,

23 the day and date above set forth.

24 - - -

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Diane M. Stevenson, RPR, CM
Morse, Gantverg & Hodge

3

1 APPEARANCES:

2 On behalf of the Plaintiffs:

3 Benito Antognoli, Esq.
Weisman, Goldberg & Weisman Co., LPA
4 1600 Midland Building
Cleveland, Ohio 44115
5

6 On behalf of the Defendants:

7 Robert E. Dever, Esq.
Bannon, Howland & Dever
8 325 Masonic Building
Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
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Diane M. Stevenson, RPR, CM
Morse, Gantverg Hodge

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1 PETER J. BROOKS, M.D.

2 A witness, called for examination by the

3 Plaintiffs, under the Rules, having been first

4 duly sworn, as hereinafter certified, was

5 examined and testified as follows:

6 DIRECT EXAMINATION

7 BY Mr. Antognoli:

8 Q. Doctor, for the record, would you state your name

9 and business address.

10 A. It is Peter John Brooks. The Cleveland Clinic

11 Foundation in Cleveland.

12 Q. Doctor, what is your profession?

13 A. I am an orthopedic surgeon.

14 Q. What is orthopedic surgery?

15 A. That is surgery of the musculoskeletal system,

16 the bones, joints, spine, extremities, ligaments,

17 tendons, that sort of thing.

is Doctor, tell us about your education and

19 training. Where did you attend college?

20 A. I went undergraduate work at the University of

21 Toronto, did medical school at the University of

22 Toronto graduating in 1979.

23 I did orthopedic surgery training at Harvard

24 University in Boston, Massachusetts. I did two

25 and a half years of subspecialty training in hip


Diane M. Stevenson, RPR, CM
Morse, Gantverq Hodge

5

1 and knee reconstruction in Toronto. I have

2 worked in Toronto in the field of orthopedic

3 surgery, particularly major joint replacements,

4 for five or so years, and moved my practice to

5 Cleveland, The Cleveland Clinic, in 1991,

6 September, '91.

7 Q. When you talk about the replacement, or major

8 joint replacement, Doctor, what does that mean?

9 A. Total hip replacement and total knee replacement.

10 Q. Let's go back a little bit, Doctor. You

11 mentioned that you had attended medical school in

12 Toronto, and you graduated in June of 1979; is

13 that right?

14 A. Yes.

15 Q. What was your rank in your graduating class?

16 A. First.

17 And then you mentioned that you had some training

18 subsequent to medical school. Did you serve an

19 internship?

20 A. Yes.

21 Q. Where was your internship?

22 A. Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

23 Q. And then you mentioned that you had been at

24 Harvard for a while; is that correct?

25 A. That's correct.


Diane M. Stevenson, RPR, CM
Morse, Gantverq 6 Hodge

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1 Q. Was that your residency training?

2 A. Yes.

3 Q. What is residency training?

4 A. That is after you have finished medical school

5 and finished an internship. If you choose to go

6 on to a specialty, you do what is known as a

7 residency, and it takes, generally, at least foux

8 years to become a specialist in anything. So

9 that is what a residency is. I did that for four

10 years.

11 And the specialty --

12 A. After that, if you want to be a subspecialist,

13 already an orthopedic surgeon, but wishing to do

14 more limited practice, say in joint replacement

15 or just in spines or just in shoulders or just in

16 hands, you can do a fellowship, which is normally

17 one year, it can be more, and In my case it was

18 two and a half years.

19 Q. So you actually served a fellowship; is that

20 right?

21 A. Yes.

22 Q. How does one get to serve a fellowship, Doctor?

23 A. Well, there are several centers around the

24 country, this country and Canada, that offer a

25 position, like an apprenticeship, I suppose, but


Diane M. Stevenson, RPR, CM
Morse, Gantverq & Hodge

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1 with also some research responsibilities where

2 you observe and assist and see patients before,

3 during, and after surgery of that particular

4 small area of orthopedic surgery that y