Lawsuit of the Day: My Toxic Love

Getting a divorce is never a quick fix, even for a surgeon. You have to divide up the money, the property, the kids, the kidneys.

A Long Island surgeon embroiled in a nearly four-year divorce proceeding wants his estranged wife to return the kidney he donated to her, although he says he’ll settle for $1.5 million in compensation.

If you grew up on Long Island, home of Lorena Bobbit, this story makes perfect sense.

If you grew up on Earth, it gets a little weird:

He said he gave his kidney to Dawnell Batista, now 44, in June 2001. She filed for divorce in July 2005, although he claims she began having an extramarital affair 18 months to two years after receiving the kidney transplant, his attorney, Dominick Barbara, said.

I’m not sure I agree with the good doctor’s tactic. See, if my wife had an affair, I’d want the other guy’s kidney … or liver. Or severed head on a pike that I’d display on my balcony.

But I guess I can understand the desire to send a (former) loved one into toxic shock and/or have $1.5 million.

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Sadly, basic human decency the law is not on his side:

Manhattan attorney Susan Moss said, “The good doctor is out of luck and out a kidney. This is similar to cases where a husband wants to be repaid for the cost of breast implants and the such. Our judges are not willing to value such assets, so to speak.”

Good thing that kidneys are internal organs, because you know how they roll on “Strong Island.”

Surgeon Sues Estranged Wife for Return of Kidney [Law.com]

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