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ANYA SHAPIRO DUKE - A VICTIM OF
MEDICAL ERROR AND JUDICIAL INJUSTICE
By D. Eukel - Las Vegas
Tribune, 04-17-02
Maybe you've heard some of those stories about people who have gone
to a doctor to have a boil lanced and come out of the hazy fog of
anesthesia with one less kidney, or something like it. Well, have
you heard about Anya Shapiro Duke? She's a wonderful woman who has
had something dreadfully worse happen to her.
She went with 20/20 eye-vision to see Dr. Roger M. Simon, presently
of Retina Consultants, here in Las Vegas, after sustaining a minor injury
to her eye. And according to several other medical opinions by
reputable doctors not bent on saving their assets, when he was finished
with her, she was blind. And today, Anya is now very ill.
Their documentation seems to represent that Roger M. Simon probably
misdiagnosed Anya's minor eye injury.
It was a celebrated case a few years back and Dr.Simon has had a
temporary reprieve from the justice that may be due him. The case is
going before the Nevada State, that is if the justices up in Carson City
will ever get off their assets and hear the full story, which has been
"stipulated away" by Anya and Jim Duke's self-serving attorneys here in
Las Vegas.
The next thing you might say is, "Poor woman. I'll bet she
gets a bundle." Nope,she hasn't gotten a 'bundle" - and she may
never get one, because the way things work here, folks, is simple.
You either get royally screwed by malpractice insurance lawyers and
doctors - who first screen the cases - which determine whether a case even
gets to first base in the judicial system. Or ultimately, get
screwed by a judge who hasn't heard all the evidence. It is the
practice in this judicially incorrect system to manipulate it so
thoroughly that the evidence is never presented before a
jury.
Jim and Anya Duke hired a string of lawyers; spent over $100,000
dollars in legal expenses and has had the evidence "stipulated away" until
they were left with defending the case themselves before a judge who
doesn't seem to give a rat's ass about justice.
Oh! Did I speak politically incorrect and just too harshly
about Judge Nancy Saitta? Tough! If the way she handled Anya's
case is an example of her judicial knowledge and her compassion, then Las
Vegas can add another piece of dirt to the desert
floor.
District Court Judge Nancy Saitta told Vin Suprynowicz, who writes
more eloquently than I, "The case was dismissed because of a valid legal
motion." Suprynowicz then said to Nancy Saitta, "That sounds like
lawyer talk." Saitta answered, "I am a lawyer" and Suprynowicz
replied, "I thought you were a judge," to which the jurist "volunteered" -
"she didn't understand the distinction." Says it all, if you ask
me.
But let's not blame the poor, picked on Judge Saitta. Let's
blame it on thieving lawyers who took Anya and Jim Duke's money, leaving
them financially destroyed, legally under-represented and Anya still blind
and with intense and increasing medical problems.
What's that you say? It can't be the attorney's fault?
It's got to come full circle to the good Dr. Roger M. Simon, right?
He must be to blame for misdiagnosing the once, minor eye injury.
Well, I think you might be right. If Simon had diagnosed her eye
injury properly in the first place, Anya might still have eyes to see Mt.
Charleston and the Red Rock landscape. She'd still be able to see
the city lights, read a good book, and her husband, whom she love very
much. She'd be able to see the corruption and injustice that
surrounds this city - well, maybe in that respect, she's fortunate not to
see.
So what do we do now? The lawyers did their utmost. The
judge followed the "book". The doctor couldn't have made a mistake -
it must be Anya's fault for being so clumsy and bumping her eye.
Let's just sweep this one under the rug also. Why not. "What's
for dinner."
Are you listening?
This woman is blind because some doctor screwed up. I don't
care what he says. Sue me! See what you get. Maybe after
I've sat in jail for contempt, they'll get me a judge who gives a damn
about justice.
You (Dr. Roger M. Simon) ought to pull the money out of your own
pocket and find a way to help Anya, instead of protecting your own
assets.
If anyone out there cares about what has happened to Anya Shapiro
Duke, call the Las Vegas Tribune at (702) 366-9310 - and offer your
assistance in any way you can. Don't let this one pass. She's
such a wonderful human being. She did not deserve what has happened
to her through a misdiagnosed eye injury, or the judicial
system.
Americans
were quick to help out the families of "9/11"
victims. Anya Duke is a victim of a system that has forgotten the
spirit of the law - she needs your help too!
WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN
FAIRNESS | 
