PRAISE FOR MY BOOK "'THE BUTCHER OF ROSEBANK" FROM VICKY, LIEBERTHAL'S RELATIVE

I was very interested to read your book and I wanted to let you know that it was compelling! Wynn Lieberthal was married to my cousin Debi, the daughter of my mother’s twin sister, Helen. The family lived in Johannesburg and we lived in Cape Town so we would only see them occasionally. I’ve lived in Sydney for nearly 40 years. I was recently on holiday in Bali with my now adult children and their families. They asked me about Wynne and I told them what sort of I remembered - his pethidine addiction and something about insurance fraud. I wasn’t sure of the details so I googled him to check - and your book came up. I now have way more details than I knew about and I was genuinely shocked to read about the depth and breadth of his activities. 

        My Aunt Helen was visiting Sydney around the time the 702 radio station  story took off. She was indignant and outraged that Wynne should be treated like that. It was the early days of the internet and I googled Wynne - of course to find out that the complaints against him were true, increasing and terrible. 

        In our family Wynne and Debi were much admired - my parents were hugely impressed by their mansion and I remember my Dad telling the story many times of how Wynne had flowers delivered to Debi every Friday. Aunt Helen was very proud of her son in law ‘the surgeon’! I also remember the story of how each of their children got a beautiful brand new car (a mini or a VW etc) when they reached learning to drive age so there were always multiple new cars at their home. 

        I mentioned your book to another cousin of mine who lives in Cape Town. He told me he saw Debi a couple of months ago and that she’d married Wynne’s older brother, Mervyn. What a saga - certainly worthy of a podcast or a TV special! Thanks for a great book! 

Best wishes, Vicki. 

South African MEDICAL JOURNAL : BOOK REVIEW

The BUTCHER of Rosebank 'He had more lives than a cat'
By Jon Abbott

        Here Jon Abbott, an investigative journalist turned private eye, delves into the medical world and documents the gross malpractice of the former orthopedic surgeon Wynne Lieberthal, who died in 2016 aged 61 years.

        Through following up records and numerous interviews with patients and other players, Abbott provides comprehensive coverage of an affair that was much more than grossly mismanaged surgery and awful outcomes for numerous patients. It is a sad story of a talented doctor whose early career was full of promise. 

        Lieberthal's medical colleagues and others together with an insurance broker teamed up to benefit from fraudulent 'dread disease' medical claims. His substance misuse and dishonesty, and especially his uncaring exploitation of vulnerable patients, are covered in detail. The complaint of Lieberthal's considerable overcharging for devices used in his surgical procedures and obtained from his own company has languished for many years in police files.

        The role of the Health Professions Council of South Africa in this affair comes in for much criticism. It was the radio station 702 and newspapers that brought Lieberthal's misdeeds to the attention of the public. This is a self-published book and is a useful documentation of some of the dark sides of medical practice and its regulation.

J P van Niekerk

Cape Town, South Africa 

http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_serial&pid=0256-9574&lng=en&nrm=iso

AMAZON : BOOK REVIEW

        Everybody facing a serious operation should read this. The “gods” in hospitals are the surgeons and putting your faith in the wrong one can cost you dearly. When things go wrong, patients can have little recourse to justice when the professional councils designed to keep doctors in line protect them, instead of the patient.

        After running his own General Practice, Wynne Lieberthal, described at medical school as “one of the most brilliant registrars we have ever trained”, set his sights on becoming a spine surgeon—someone who could relieve the tremendous mental and physical agony experienced by those suffering from back pain. 

        Unlike most surgeons, Lieberthal knew what that was like: he had three back surgeries before becoming a fully-fledged orthopedic surgeon. Surely he would have sympathy for his patients?

But what Jon Abbott uncovered was a real-life Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Available from Amazon Books  https://a.co/d/0c1UN3yt