STATE OF 01110,
SS;
3 COUNTY OF LORAIN

4
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
5

6
Sandra F Kirschner, et al,
7
Plaintiffs,

v s No 89277-82
9
The Elyria Memorial Hospital,
I 0 et al ,

11 Defendants

1 2

1 3

1 4

15 Deposition of HAROLD L REKATE, VID, taken

16 as it under examination before Angelika P Veres,

17 a Notary Public within and for the State of Ohio,

18 at the offices of Harold L Rekate, MD, Room

19 5206, University Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, at

20 2:40 pm, Monday, the 7th day of November, 1983,

21 pursuant to stipulations of counsel, on behalf of

22 the Defendant Elyria Memorial Hospital

23 ROBERT J RUA & ASSOCIATES
Court Reporters
/2 4 700 Superior Building
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
25 241-5500

1 APPEARANCES:

2 Weisman, Goldberg & Weisman, by
Mr R Eric Kennedy,
3
on behalf of the Plaintiffs;
4

5 Kitchen, Messner & Deery, by
Mr Steven W Albert,

on benalt of the Defendant
7 Elyria Memorial Hospital;

8
Ashenbach, Tattersall, Gallagher & Glavas, by
9 Mr J C William Tattersall,

10 on behalf of the Defendant
Elyria Emergency Medical Services,
Inc

1 2 - - -

1 3
14 S T I P U L A T I 0 N S

15 It was stipulated by and between counsel

16 for Plaintiffs and Defendants that this deposition mai

17 be taken in stenotypy by Angelika P Veres, and that

18 all requirements of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure

19 with regard to notice of time and place of taking

20 this deposition are waived

21 - - -

2 2

23

2 4

2 5

 3

2 HAROLD L REKATE, MD, of lawful
3 age, called by the Defendant Elyria
4 Memorial Hospital for the purpose of
5 examination, as provided by the Ohio
6 Rules of Civil Procedure, being by
7 me first duly sworn, as hereinafter
8 certified, deposed and said as follows:
9 - - -
10 MR  ALBERT: I'm Steve Albert,
11 Doctor, and I'm going to ask you a
12 number of questions pursuant to Rule
1 3 26(B) deposition, which is a rule in
14 the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, and
15 1 have discussed with Mr Kennedy your
16 fees, et cetera, concerning this, ana
17 to alleviate any fears which you may
18 have, I wish to assure you that the
19 Rule provides for reasonable payment,
20 you know, reasonable charges, ana we
21 will guarantee, on behalf of my client
2 2 and my firm, the payment of reasonable
23 charges with respect to this particular
2 4 aeposition  I wanted to put that on
2 5 the regard

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
4
1 1 told Mr Kennedy that I would

2 assure you in case you had had former

3 experiences with respect to any

4 difficulty in that regard, okay?

5 THE WITNESS; Fine

6 MR ALBERT: if there are any

7 questions which you have that I ask,

8 that are not clear in your mind because

9 1 mispronounced a word, misuse a word,

10 or misphrase a sentence, please tell

11 me, because if you do testify at the

12 trial and I were to ask you a similar

13 question, I do not want to get into a

14 scenario where the question and answer

15 at this time was not clear, okay?

16 THE WITNESS: Right, fine

17 MR ALBERT: I have been provided

18 with a review of your curriculum vitae,

19 which Mr Kennedy showed me I presume

20 that is your latest updated curriculum

21 vitae; is that correct?

22 THE WITNESS% It has been updated

2 3 since then There's a more recent

24 copy

25 MR  ALBERT: Would it be possible,

5
1 perhaps, for you to give a copy to Mr

2 Kennedy, and then he can provide it --

3 THE WIT14ESS: My secretary has it

4 - - -

5 EXAMINATION OF HAROLD L REKATE, MD

6 BY MR ALBERT:

7 Q You are a neurosurgeon and medical doctor; is

8 that correct?

9 A Correct

10 Q And you are licensed in the State of Ohio?

11 A Correct

12 Q And you practice medicine or teach in the

13 field of medicine one hundred percent of the

14 time?

15 A Correct

16 Q With respect to your experience concerning the

17 condition of a cauda equina syndrome, could

18 you state for me what your experience in

19 treating patients with that condition has been

20 up until you first saw Sandra Kirschner?

21 A Cauda equina syndrome means damage to the

22 nerves in the spine after they have left the

23 spinal cord

24 I have had an extensive experience

25 treating cauda equina abnormalities from a




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1 variety of different conditions, not only

2 lumbar discs, but various other kinds of

3 injuries, as well as tumors and hemorrnages,

4 and these sorts of things

5 It is a damage to the nerve roots and --

6 what do you want to know, how many patients or

7 Q How many patients would you have seen, in your

8 best estimate, that you made a diagnosis that

9 that was the condition or syndrome which they

1( had, trom any source up, until you saw Sandra

11 Rirschner?

12 A Oh, maybe 15

13 You would not consider that a common condition

14 seen by a neurosurgeon?

15 A It is a common condition seen by

16 neurosurgeons

17 Q So, you would figure tnat 1