Derek Achong
Almost seven years after businessman Ricardo "Smokey" McKenzie died, his widow testified in court in her $20 m lawsuit against Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre over the medical institution's alleged role in his death.
Lisa McKenzie took the witness stand before Justice Mira Dean-Armorer in the Port-of-Spain High Court for the continuation of her medical negligence lawsuit against the Centre, where her husband underwent radiation treatment in 2009.
McKenzie was questioned by Centre's attorneys over her claim of US$567,000 spent on his medical care in the United States before his death and her claim of almost $16 m representing her husband's earnings.
The Centre's attorney Neil Bisnath went through each bill and invoice attached to her claim and pointed out that one receipt was replicated five times in her court documents.
McKenzie claimed that the duplicates were compiled by error but the total figure made in the lawsuit was correct.
Bisnath also questioned the fact that none of the receipts presented by McKenzie showed that she paid for the medical treatment as they all stated that the medical bills were paid by her health insurance policy with her former employer RBC and through another policy held by her husband.
McKenzie claimed that total medical expenses were not covered by the insurance policies and she had to borrow the rest from RBC by taking a second mortgage on her home. She admitted that she failed to attach the mortgage agreement to her court documents but denied that her claim was exaggerated.
McKenzie was also questioned about her claim over her loss of earnings caused by her husband's death at age 55. She admitted that after his death, she took over co-ownership of Smokey and Bunty Bar in St James and received his share of the profits.
She said that the only time the establishment was closed for business was in May 2015 when it was damaged by a fire and took six months to relocate.
Under cross-examination, McKenzie admitted that according to her expert witness Dr Roberto Heros, who testified on Tuesday, her husband had a life expectancy of between 16-18 months due to the extent of his illness. Her husband lived almost 17 months from the time he was first diagnosed, to when he died in December 2010.
The trial today when another of McKenzie's foreign medical experts is expected to testify from the US via video conferencing.
About the case
Ricardo "Smokey" McKenzie, a brain cancer patient, received external beam radiation therapy at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre for six weeks in 2009. In June 2010, McKenzie, the co-owner of Smokey and Bunty bar in St James, underwent an operation for swelling in his brain.
He was then taken to the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, for further treatment before he eventually died, later that year.
In her lawsuit filed several months after his death, his widow Lisa is claiming that the Centre was negligent for over-radiation of McKenzie due to the miscalibration of its Linac accelerator during the period he was treated.
She also contended that the centre failed to take reasonable steps to notify McKenzie or his family that there were a miscalibration and a possibility that an overdose of radiation may have occurred.