Jacksonville, FL: Man Who Had Knife Thrust In His Skull Is Now Suing The Learning Channel...
Slimpickins
IMO.
Slim
Sunday, April 8, 2001
Michael Hill, stabbed in the head in April 1998 with an 8-inch
serrated-edge knife, is suing for the rights to footage of his surgery.
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By Vivian Wakefield
Times-Union staff writer
It's an image that's unforgettable. An 8-inch serrated knife protruding out
of a man's skull. With surgery, the man's life is saved.
The CT scan of Michael Hill's skull has been seen across the world.
Now the Jacksonville man whose open skull was shown on The Learning Channel
has filed a lawsuit against the cable network, The New York Times Co. whose
crew videotaped the surgery and Shands Jacksonville for allowing the taping
to take place prior to asking for his permission.
Saying he still suffers the effects of the 1998 attack that left him unable
to work, the 46-year-old says in the lawsuit that his privacy was invaded
and that the three parties have benefited from the use of his image without
sharing any of the financial benefits. He also accuses them of intentional
and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Representatives of The Learning Channel, New York Times Co. and Shands
Jacksonville declined to comment on the lawsuit filed March 15.
The "Growing Pains" episode on the television program Trauma: Life in the
E.R. on The Learning Channel has been shown numerous times, causing
emotional problems, Hill said. His teen son is teased by classmates after
the show airs, Hill said.
"I'll be in the Winn-Dixie and people will say, 'Oh, you're the guy with
the knife in your head,'" he said.
Hill was visiting his sister's home when a neighbor knocked on the door on
April 25, 1998, and plunged a knife into his head when he answered. Hill
said he and his sister think the man mistook him for his sister's husband,
who had argued with the neighbor.
He was rushed to Shands Jacksonville, then known as University Medical
Center, where doctors removed the knife and saved his life on the night in
which a TV crew was taping at the hospital for a show.
Although he's suing the hospital that saved his life, Hill said he's not
unappreciative of the work the doctors performed.
"I'm very grateful for those doctors who did what they did that night," said
Hill, who has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Maury Povich Show and
in The National Enquirer. "But there's a standard they should uphold. The
hospital violated my rights by letting people into the operating area, in a
restricted area."
In addition to the videotape of his surgery, Hill also said the hospital has
given out medical records, including the CT scan of the knife protruding
from his head, for commercial purposes, without his permission. He says the
hospital breached the patient-physician privilege and confidentiality.
Although producers of the show did get him to sign a consent form afterward,
Hill said he thought the form was for an interview he later did with the
crew from his home.
After his family read to him an article in the newspaper about Hill's case
to be shown on The Learning Channel, Hill thought the show would include his
interview. He didn't know it would include footage of his surgery until he
watched the broadcast, he said.
"I was sitting home and it popped on TV," he said. "It really messed me up."
Hill, who volunteers for groups such as Victims Services and the Justice
Coalition, takes five medications a day to control seizures, short-term
memory loss and pain.
Living off a Social Security check after spending 17 years working for a
furniture store before the knife attack, Hill said he should receive part of
the profit from airing the program that keeps showing his surgery and
unusual medical case. He said he wouldn't feel this way if the videotape was
being used only for medical training and not aired on television.
"I've been exploited for three years," he said. "They didn't have the
decency to offer me anything, knowing I'm not able to work."
Hill's attorney, Brooks Rathet, said Hill isn't seeking any specific amount
of money in damages, just what's fair and the rights to the footage. He said
the rights have been sold in some cases to shock-video shows.
"This was an ambush," Rathet said. "They film first and ask questions later.
Are there any limits anymore? Human tragedy has become a marketing tool."
http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/040801/met_5859307.html
