Gage update: the case of the slippery Plaintiff's attorney

In Federal Court yesterday, Judge Quackenbush dismissed 13 of the 19 criminal charges against personal injury attorney Noel Gage, "telling the prosecution it failed to present adequate evidence to allow jurors to consider convicting the 69-year-old defendant."

The Review-Journal reports:

Senior U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush tossed 13 of 19 counts that Gage faced. Most of those counts related to Gage's dealings with the family of Carlos Pachas, who underwent kidney surgery and emerged from the operating room
in a permanent vegetative state.
. . .

According to the government, Gage paid Awand $780,000 from the settlement, disguising the payment as a contingency fee when it was actually a kickback for referring the lucrative case to Gage. Pachas' family was unaware of Awand's involvement or the payment.

Judge Quackenbush indicated Gage's actions should be of interest to the Nevada State Bar and that he was "offended by the conduct," adding that he can't imagine anyone in the Vegas valley isn't shocked by the conduct of its medical and legal community. But the slippery Mr. Gage is not out of the water yet, and may want to take a plea:

The six remaining charges are related to Melodie Simon, a former Olympian who
underwent routine back surgery in 2001 and became paralyzed after internal bleeding caused nerves to push up against her spine. Experts said Dr. Mark Kabins, who performed the surgery with Dr. John Thalgott, should have responded immediately to the bleeding, which could have prevented Simon's paralysis.

The government said nearly 11 hours passed between the time Simon complained of a severe headache and when Kabins performed emergency surgery.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Schiess told jurors that Gage never diligently pursued medical malpractice lawsuits against Kabins and Thalgott because they belonged to Awand's network of doctors who agreed to lie on the stand during trials to secure more lucrative settlements for Awand's attorneys' clients. That translated into more money for all the players, Schiess said.

Thank goodness for Vegas doctors standing up and refusing to comply with such corrupt and dubious legal practices. We can all rest safe knowing Vegas doctors aren't here simply to make a profit at our expense. They really want to provide care for us and protect us from any medical scams that might harm us . . .

Wait . . . um . . .

No, the opposite of what I just said.