"KERRVILLE JURY CLEARS DOCTOR"

KERRVILLE - An addiction specialist here was exonerated of wrong-doing late
Friday in the death of a patient after a new treatment to rid him of his
hunger for cocaine and methadone.

The jury in the civil case not only rejected the plaintiffs' claims that Dr.
Anand Mehendale was negligent in his treatment of John L. Givens III but
also rebuffed defense arguments that Givens was liable for his own death.

A beaming Mehendale was swarmed by supporters after the verdict was
announced at 7 p.m.

"I'm partially relieved by the verdict, but I still feel the pain for Mr.
Givens' family, and they'll remain in my prayers," Mehendale, 46, said.

The Givens family and it's lawyers were stunned by the quick and one-sided
verdict in the complicated medical malpractice trial that lasted two weeks.
Jurors reached a unanimous decision after two hours and 20 minutes of
deliberations.

Givens, a respected local accountant who had been addicted to heroin and
methadone since the 1970s, died 64 days after the rapid opiate
detoxification treatment.

The relatively new, one-day procedure involves sedating the patient and then
introducing "opiate antagonists" to wash the drugs from the brain's receptors.

Normally long and painful withdrawls pass in just a few hours while the
patient is unconscious.

Mehendale, a neurologist and addiction specialist, was accused of shoddy
preparation for the treatment and failing to take safeguards to protect
Givens when things turned sour.

Givens was a partner with Mehendale and anesthiologist Rex Thomas in La
Hacienda Drug Treatment Center in Hunt.

Richard Mosty, Mehendale's personal lawyer, said of the verdict: "They
didn't find anyone negligent. I guess that means they thought it was an
accident."