Doctor Claims Articles Damaged Practice

Two 1990 articles in The Times about a woman who died after breast implant surgery in the office of a Newport Beach plastic surgeon were false and misleading and damaged the physician’s practice, his attorney told a jury Thursday.

Dr. Edward J. Domanskis, a board-certified plastic surgeon, had a successful cosmetic surgery practice when he performed the breast implants on Martha McClellan with the help of an anesthesiologist, attorney Donald A. Vaughn said during opening arguments of a libel trial in Orange County Superior Court.

Domanskis’ reputation was damaged and his practice fell off sharply after stories about the death were published on March 22 and 23, 1990, in The Times Orange County Edition, Vaughn contended.

But Robert Warren, an attorney for The Times, countered that the articles were factually correct and properly reported. He blamed the downturn in Domanskis’ practice on nationwide concern over the safety of breast implants and Southern California’s economic problems.

Warren told jurors that the death of a patient after cosmetic surgery was a newsworthy event that warranted coverage. If Domanskis lost business because patients declined to be treated by him after learning of the death, it was not due to inaccurate statements by The Times, Warren said.

McClellan, a 35-year-old mother of four, suffered cardiac arrest after the March 8 surgery, lapsed into a coma and died four days later when her family had her removed from life support systems.

Domanskis testified Thursday that immediately after the articles were printed, numerous patients canceled their appointments with him. At least one person telephoned to call the physician a murderer, Vaughn said, adding that the doctor’s income has since dropped from about $300,000 to $100,000 annually.

Vaughn told jurors Thursday that the articles defamed his client and made him look incompetent. Vaughn also accused the paper of purposely choosing to publish an unflattering photo of Domanskis showing him with a gleeful smile.

“This is a case of character assassination, folks,” Vaughn told jurors. He later added that the paper was more interested in “scooping” the competition than taking the time to check the facts in the story.

Vaughn said problems with the articles ranged from the misspelling of an employee’s name to representations that he called libelous and inflammatory.

In countering Vaughn’s allegations, Warren told jurors that the evidence will show that the information in the story was a true and accurate representation of the events surrounding McClellan’s death.

“It is the contention of the defense that there were no such false or defamatory statements,” Warren said. He noted that the photo used in the article was one that Domanskis himself submitted to an Orange County physicians directory.

Vaughn also told jurors that Domanskis’ anesthesiologist took questionable care of the patient after Domanskis successfully completed the surgery without complications.