Q. Dr. Croft, you are a physician licensed to practice
medicine in the State of New York?
A. Yes.
Q. When were you so licensed?
A. I think 1980.
Q. Prior to being licensed to practice in the State of
New York, where did you take your medical education?
A. Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston
Massachusetts.
Q. When did you graduate?
A. 1979.
Q. Following graduation from medical school, did you
take any additional or advanced training?
A. Yes, surgical residency.
Q. Where did you take your surgical residency?
A. University of Arizona School of Medicine.
Q. When did you complete that?
A. I did an internship and one year of residency
in '79-'80, '80-'81.
Q. Following that surgical residency, what did you do
next professionally?
A. Neurosurgical residency Mt. Sinai Hospital, New
York City.
Q. When was that?
A. 1981 through 1986.
Q. Following the completion of your neurosurgical
residency, what did you do professionally?
A. Went into private practice with my partners.
Q. Where was that?
A. In Cedahurst.
Q. In partnership with other physicians?
A. Yes.
Q. What physicians?
A. With Dr. Mary Morris and subsequently Dr. Jones.
Q. In 1988, were you in partnership with Dr. Morris
and Dr. Jones?
A. Yes.
Q. Were there any other partners?
A. No.
Q. At that time were you limiting your practice of
your profession to any particular specialty?
A. Neurosurgery.
Q. As a specialty in medicine would you define
nuerosurgery?
A. It is the treatment of the brain, spinal cord,
spine, central nervous system, brain, spine and peripheral
nerve diseases.
Q. Have you been certified by any specialty board in
your specialty?
A. Yes.
Q. By what board?
A. The American Board of Neurological Surgeons.
Q. When were you so certified?
A. In 1990.
Q. In 1988 were you associated with any hospitals?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. What hospitals?
A. I'm not exactly sure, but was Peninsula General
Hospital, St. John's, Long Beach, South Nassau, Franklin
General and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Q. What was your association with Mt. Sinai Hospital
in New York?
A. I was on the attending staff in the department of
neurosurgery.
Q. With St. John's Episcopal Hospital, what was your
association?
A. Attending neurosurgeon on the staff.
Q. And Peninsula?
A. The same.
Q. Have you written in your field of specialization?
A. Yes.
Q. Would you describe your writings in general?
A. Several articles if treatment of metastatic spine
disease, some basic research in blood brain barrier.
Q. Do you have a CV?
A. Yes.
Q. Did the time come, Dr. Croft, when you saw a
patient by the name of James Healy?
A. Yes.
Q. When was the first time did you see Mr. Healy?
A. 6/2/88.
Q. Where was it that you first saw Mr. Healy?
A. At operating room in St. John's Episcopal Hospital
in Far Rockaway.
Q. What time was it?
A. I don't remember.
Q. Would the chart refresh your recollection as to
what time it is?
A. Yes, approximately 7 p.m.
Q. On June 30, 1988, is that correct?
A. Correct.
Q. When was the first time you ever heard of the
existence of Mr. Healy?
A. In a telephone call from my partner, Dr. Jones.
Q. When was this?
A. I can't, I don't remember.
Q. How long before you got to the operating room was
this?
A. I can't, I don't remember.
Q. Was it more than an hour?
A. No.
Q. Were you there when you received the call?
A. I don't remember.
Q. Were you in the hospital?
A. I don't remember.
Q. Were you in St. John's Hospital?
A. No.
Q. Were you someplace other than St. John's Hospital,
is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. What did Dr. Jones say to you and what did you say
to Dr. Jones in this telephone conversation?
A. I don't remember verbatim.
Q. What was the substance of what Dr. Jones said to
you and the substance of what you said to Dr. Jones?
A. Presented the patient's clinical status the studies
he had performed and we discussed the proposed decompression
of the patient's spinal cord.
Q. In substance, what did he say about the patient's
clinical statute?
A. That he was quadripalegic from an infective
process, probably transverse myelitis at C-4, 5.
Q. Did he discuss with you where the infective process
was?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he say to you about that?
A. He discussed the results of the patient's myelogram
that he had performed which revealed infective process of the
spinal cord to be at the level of C-4, 5.
Q. Did he discuss with you where in the spinal canal
the infective process was?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he say about that?
A. C-4, 5.
Q. Did he mention anything about an epidural abscess?
A. Yes.
Q. That did he say about an epidural abscess?
A. That the results of the myelogram confirmed that
the patient had transverse myelitis, but could not rule out
an epidural abscess.
Q. What is an epidural abscess?
A. It's an abscess on the outside of the dura.
Q. Would an epidural abscess be an infective process?
A. Yes.
Q. Did he discuss with you whether there was any
possibility of any other infective process being involved?
A. No.
Q. Did he discuss with you any CAT scans that had been
taken?
A. Yes.
Q. What did he say about the CAT scans?
A. In conjunction with the myelogram, exactly what,
it's just an adjunct of the myelogram, so the same results
would have been discussed.
Q. Did he suggest to you the possibility of a
prevertebral abscess?
A. No.
Q. What is a prevertebral abscess?
A. It's an abscess in the front of the spine.
Q. Did he discuss with you the possibility of
retropharyngeal abscess?
A. No.
Q. Were you aware of the possibility that spinal cord
infection can present retropharyngeally?
A. Yes.
Q. What if anything else did Dr. Jones say to you
about this case on the telephone?
A. Nothing that I can remember.
Q. Have you now told us everything you remember about
what Dr. Jones told you about this case?
A. Yes.