This headline contains the words “The Offspring,” “gynecologist,” and “malpractice”
Long before The Offspring broke through with the Smash album–we’re talking the period from 1984 to 1987–drummer James Lilja had to make a decision: Continue with the band or follow through on his dreams of being a gynecologist. He chose the latter and was replaced by Ron Welty.
Today, Dr. Lilja practices in the Bay Area of California, specializing in cancers of the female reproductive tract–but it hasn’t been going all that well lately. He’s currently facing several malpractice charges.
Earlier this week, Dr. Lilja was in court for jury selection in this trial. At some point in the proceedings, one of the 35 prospective jurors fell and hit his head and was rendered unconscious. Lilja did what any good doctor would do in such a situation. He leaped to into action.
Finding the man not breathing and without a pulse, Dr. Lilja first performed CPR and then shocked him back to life with a portable defibrillator. By the time paramedics arrived, the man had a pulse and was whisked to hospital. We don’t know his condition, but one thing is for sure: Had Dr. Lilja not administered treatment, the man would most certainly be dead.
Fantastic. However, the prosecuting lawyer objected to these heroics in the sense he was worried Dr. Lilja’s actions in front of the jury pool would taint their opinion of the good doctor. How could they possibly remain neutral in a malpractice case when they had just witnessed the defendant save a man’s life with his medical abilities and knowledge?
The judge ruled a mistrial and all 35 jurors were dismissed. They’ll try again on Monday.
More details at SFGate.