13 April 2012

A cancer doctor accused in a lawsuit of forcing George Harrison to autograph a guitar on his deathbed is leaving his post at a New York hospital, it emerged today.

But hospital authorities denied that Dr Gilbert Lederman was being replaced because of the controversy over the former Beatle.

A spokesman for Staten Island University Hospital said the replacement of Lederman, head of the radiation oncology unit, had been planned for months.

Lederman will remain in his position at the hospital until the end of the year, said his lawyer Wayne Roth.

Mr Roth said in a statement that the replacement had "absolutely nothing to do with George Harrison or any issues concerning patient care".

Harrison died in November 2001.

Paul LiCalsi, lawyer for the Harrisons, said, "We have no information from the hospital, but we find the timing curious."

Earlier this week, the Harrison estate sued Dr Lederman, claiming that he made Harrison sign the instrument two weeks before he died.

Their lawsuit suit, which was filed on Tuesday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, alleged that Dr Lederman revealed confidential information about the musician and coerced him into signing autographs.

It claims that when he was asked to sign the guitar he answered: "I do not even know if I know how to spell my name any more."

But the suit alleges that Dr Lederman responded by saying "Come on, you can do this," and held Harrison's hand as the musician wrote his name on the guitar "with great effort and much obvious discomfort".

The estate is seeking possession of the guitar and two cards it says Harrison signed as he was treated by Lederman.

On Wednesday, Harrison's family rejected an offer by Lederman to donate the signed guitar to charity.

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