Doctor’s wife testifies against attorney Gage

Referrals and quick access to a neurosurgeon's office was so important to personal injury attorney Noel Gage that he threatened to run the surgeon out of business if he did not comply, Joanne Venger, the wife of Dr. Benjamin Venger, testified Tuesday.

"We can ruin your husband," Joanne Venger quoted Gage as saying in September 2003 as he stood over her in the office of self-proclaimed medical consultant Howard Awand. "I felt scared. I wasn't sure what was going on."

Joanne Venger told jurors she was shocked by the unexpected threat when she went to Gage's law firm to pick up a check from Awand, who had an office down the hall from Gage. Awand had cut the $216,000 check to neurosurgeon Benjamin Venger for referring a patient embroiled in litigation to Awand.

Gage settled that lawsuit for $18 million.

Joanne Venger said Awand and Gage pestered her that September day because they wanted her husband to examine patients immediately and he was too jammed to accommodate them.

"Howard Awand could not understand why my husband did not have an open-door policy to his practice," she said. "He would expect an appointment the next day. He could keep the cases moving quickly that way."

Gage and Awand have been indicted on fraud and conspiracy charges. Gage's trial started in U.S. District Court on Feb. 19. The case against Awand has yet to go to trial.

Federal prosecutors claim the two were involved in a network of doctors and lawyers who conspired with Awand to inflate medical costs and line their own pockets with lawsuit settlements.

Doctors referred patients to Awand, who in turn referred them to the Las Vegas personal injury attorneys he controlled, according to the government. Attorneys referred clients to Awand, who sent them to certain physicians who would reach conclusions that strengthened the attorneys' cases, prosecutors allege.

The doctors involved were protected from medical malpractice lawsuits. The settlements were distributed among the players involved in each particular lawsuit, according to the government.

Benjamin Venger, who admitted Monday that he was part of the network and lied several times under oath during personal injury trials, approached the government in 2005 and was granted immunity from criminal charges.

Joanne Venger said her husband was one of the doctors involved in the network whose members called themselves the "medical mafia." She said she did not name Gage as a member of the clan, but said he attended fundraisers and socialized with members of the "medical mafia."

Joanne Venger told the jury she learned last year that her husband was part of the scam and was cooperating with the federal government.

Earlier Tuesday, Cindy Knight testified that when her 6-year-old daughter broke her arm in 2001, an emergency room doctor put her arm in a cast that was too tight. The cast permanently damaged muscle tissue and her daughter, now 12, struggles to use her hand.

She was referred to Awand by an acquaintance.

"He (Awand) said on the phone he was a medical consultant and that I should call Gage and Gage," Knight said, referring to the law firm that Gage shares with his wife.

Prosecutors showed Knight the distribution of the $900,000 settlement. The document showed that Awand received $99,750 of the settlement. Knight testified that she had never before known that Awand made money off her case.

"Did Howard Awand do $100,000 worth of work on the case?" asked Steve Myhre, first assistant U.S. attorney.

"No, I talked to him on the phone for a few minutes; that was it," Knight said.

On cross-examination, Knight acknowledged that she was pleased with the work that the Gage firm did and with the settlement.

The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case today.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@reviewjournal.com or (702) 384-8710.