Doctor hounded dying ex-Beatle, lawsuit claims

A doctor who treated George Harrison for cancer shortly before his death is being sued by the ex-Beatle’s estate for allegedly coercing him to sign autographs on his deathbed and violating his privacy.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Brooklyn, N.Y., claims that Staten Island University Hospital director of radiation oncology Gilbert Lederman insisted that Harrison listen to his son play guitar just two weeks before his death, then told him, “Come on, you can do this,” when Harrison resisted autographing the guitar.

Harrison’s widow, Olivia, seeks $10 million in compensatory damages plus unspecified punitive damages, as well as the return of the guitar and two other autographs Harrison signed for Lederman and his children, according to Paul V. LiCalsi, a lawyer for his estate. He said that Olivia Harrison filed the suit because she was offended by his actions shortly before and after her husband died of cancer at 58 on Nov. 29, 2001.

Lederman’s lawyer called the lawsuit “absurd” and said it is “strictly allegations.... He didn’t coerce Mr. Harrison.”

In November, Lederman was reprimanded and fined $5,000 by the New York state health department for speaking publicly about Harrison’s condition without his patient’s permission.