Gathers Lawsuit Is Dismissed : Jurisprudence: Case against two doctors ends when family members don’t appear to testify.

A civil lawsuit brought by the family of Loyola Marymount basketball standout Hank Gathers against two doctors was dismissed after the plaintiffs failed to show up to testify Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge J. Gary Hastings dismissed the lawsuit at the request of the defendants.

Gathers collapsed during a West Coast Conference tournament game at Gersten Pavilion on March 4, 1990, and was pronounced dead less than two hours later at a nearby hospital.

An autopsy revealed the cause of death was cardiomyopathy, a heart disorder.

The plaintiffs, including Gathers’ mother, Lucille, and his brothers, Derrick and Charles, contended the doctors who attended Gathers were negligent and caused the family emotional distress in the way they treated Gathers at courtside and outside the gym.

Several lawsuits were filed in the case and settled out of court. Wednesday’s dismissal concludes the actions.

Lucille Gathers received $895,000 and Gathers’ son, Aaron Crump, received $1.5 million following settlement with Loyola Marymount and others of a wrongful death claim.

Settlement discussions in the remaining actions unraveled during the first week of the three-week trial. Bruce Fagel, attorney for the plaintiffs, said once the defendants refused to settle, Lucille and Charles Gathers wanted out, leaving Derrick to pursue the case alone.

Defense attorneys said their clients never considered settling.

Derrick didn’t show up Tuesday when he was scheduled to testify in the Superior Court trial. Lucille and Charles Gathers, who were scheduled to testify after Derrick, never boarded a flight to Los Angeles from Philadelphia.

“Once Lucille and Charles decided (there was) no need for them to appear (to testify) . . . that created a problem with how (they) would come just for Derrick, if they were not going to get anything out of the case,” Fagel said.

Fagel said Lucille and Charles Gathers felt they had been compensated sufficiently with the earlier settlement with Loyola Marymount. They had agreed that any additional settlement money would go to Derrick, and he was reluctant to testify, Fagel added.

Lucille Gathers, reached by phone in Philadelphia on Tuesday, said she would not answer any questions.

Hastings had recessed the court until 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to give the family time to rethink its position.

The doctors being sued were Dan Hyslop, Loyola’s staff physician in its student health center, and Ben Shaffer, the doctor on duty at the game from the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Group. Kerlan-Jobe was also named in the suit.

After the lawsuit was dismissed, several members of the 11-woman, one-man jury hugged Hyslop.

Craig Dummit, Hyslop’s attorney, said he issued a notice, similar to a subpoena, to Lucille and Charles, which required their presence at the trial.

“Bruce (Fagel) made it clear to people before the trial started that his clients wanted to settle and did not want to go to trial even before they settled the other (issues) and got a large amount of money,” Dummit said.

“I figured they wouldn’t want to return to Los Angeles to testify, which is understandable since it carries a very bad memory for them.”

Fagel had originally scheduled a medical expert to testify Tuesday, but decided late last week that the jury had heard enough medical evidence. He delayed the expert and scheduled the Gathers family members to take the stand.