Desai’s wife says husband has brain damage
Documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on behalf of Dr. Dipak Desai provide a glimpse of the argument his defense lawyers are making about his inability to assist them in the criminal case.
His wife, Kusum, who also is a physician, contends in a sworn written declaration that Desai’s recovery from a July 13, 2008, stroke has been “limited,” leaving him with a “very severe memory loss” and “difficulty comprehending complex concepts.”
She says examinations by physicians who specialize in strokes have found that the part of his brain that controls memory and cognitive ability has been damaged.
As a result, Desai’s wife says he can’t make “rational decisions with respect to his financial responsibilities.”
She is asking Bankruptcy Judge Mike Nakagawa to waive a requirement for Desai to undergo credit counseling in his Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Nakagawa has set an Aug. 31 hearing on the subject.
As for the criminal case, District Judge Jackie Glass has the task of deciding whether the observations of Desai’s personal physicians will stand up to the independent medical evaluations of the man charged in the hepatitis C outbreak.
Prosecutors already have suggested that Desai is exaggerating the effects of the 2008 stroke to get out from under the criminal charges that could leave him behind bars for a long time.
