Gage update

The Gage trial is definitely the best drama in town right now.

Yesterday, Las Vegas neurosurgeon Benjamin Venger (pictured here) took the stand and admitted he received almost half a million dollars in kickbacks for medical malpractice referrals to medical consultant Howard Awand.

The Review-Journal reports:

In 2002, Gage represented Claire Michaels, a woman who was injured in a head-on traffic accident and later suffered from a dizzy spell that caused her to fall from her attic. Awand called upon Venger to examine the woman prior to Michaels' civil trial.

Venger said Awand directed him to come to the conclusion that Michaels' head injuries were a result of the car accident, not the fall.

"They did not want there to be an alternate cause of her condition," Venger said. "It would diminish the value of the case."

Venger admitted on the stand that he lied during the deposition in that case to support Gage's theory. So why did he stop lying for Gage? Well:

Venger told jurors that he abruptly ended his relationship with Awand after the
consultant and Gage threatened his wife. He did not elaborate on the threats.

In response, Gage's attorneys suggested Venger was testifying to satisfy a grudge against Gage that began when "Gage's law firm sued Venger's partner for medical malpractice."

Venger received immunity for testifying and the Review-Journal editorial suggests that while he won't go to jail over the testimony, his career is finished.

C'mon, finished?!? This is Vegas. He'll be back on top in a few months. We forgive and forget a lot here if you're rich (as long as you didn't give 40,000 residents HIV).