Opinion by Consumer Advocate Tim Bolen
The California attorney for Canada’s cheap copy of Stephen Barrett, one Terry Polevoy, a Board Certified Pediatrician turned pimple doctor, submitted some papers to the Alameda, CA Superior Court last month indicating that a Conditional Settlement had been reached in the Polevoy v Grell and twenty un-named John Does case. You can read the original article about this situation here.
Guess what the settlement contains..
In an article last December 29th I had written:
“And, as Polevoy found out the hard way, there is no honor among thieves. Polevoy got left holding the bag so to speak, in the Barrett v Clark case – where he ended up with a Court ordered Defendant’s legal bill for $311,000 (now up to $450,000, with interest) in his lap.
Terry Polevoy is suing the attorney, Christopher Grell and twenty “John Does,” to get out from under that debt, claiming that Grell and Stephen Barrett conspired to shift the debt over to him, from themselves. Now, that case has approached the “Discovery” phase, and SUDDENLY (smile here, once again) attorney Grell, who is being accused in that case of not answering “Discovery” demands is begging for “Mediation” rather than be Deposed himself, or having Stephen Barrett Deposed.”
So, what does this mean?
We’ll soon find out more, for a Settlement Conference is scheduled for February 15th, 2011 and the filing here says that a Request for Dismissal will be filed no later than February 28th, 2011. However, I think the language of this filing is important. It says, specifically:
“This case has been conditionally resolved. The resolution conditions dismissal of this matter on the satisfactory completion of specified terms that might not be performed within 45 days of the date of the mediated resolution. A request for dismissal will be filed no later than February 28th, 2011.”
My guess is that Polevoy wants Ilena Rosenthal off his back – and the resolution conditions are probably the paying off of the money owed her – about $450,000 US.
But, What Else Will Polevoy Demand?
Let’s be realistic. Terry Polevoy, according to his lawsuit statement got REALLY USED AND ABUSED by Grell, Barrett, and according to him, nineteen others not-yet-named in the lawsuit. You could say that he was used like Kleenex and thrown away, but frankly I think it was more like toilet paper.
So, I think, Polevoy may have demanded a lot more – and he was in a position to get pretty much what he wanted – or else, I suspect, he was going to get VERY SPECIFIC – VERY PUBLICLY about the roles thatBarrett and the other nineteen as-yet-unnamed Defendants played in the case – and in ALL CASES.
Of course, the people over at Doctor’s Data v Stephen Barrett Federal Court case, were, of course, waiting with sharpened teeth to see if that case was going to go to Discovery. They could then grab that Discovery for themselves. My guess is that Barrett, and the other unnamed nineteen, were sweating a lot.
So, Polevoy had a BIG lever.
In defense, Grell and Barrett probably threatened to release the information they probably have about why Polevoy is practicing as a pimple doctor and not as a Pediatrician.
So, it will be interesting to see what develops. For instance:
(1) Did Polevoy demand rights of survivorship to Barrett’s websites so that he, Terry Polevoy, would be publicly acknowledged as Barrett’s official successor once Barrett dies? I think that’s very possible, since “Orac the Nipple Ripper” stumbled a few times.
(2) Did Polevoy demand a well paying job in the vaccine industry?
(3) Did Polevoy demand positions on the Board of CSICOP, the ACSH, the James Randi Foundation, the NCAHF, etc.?
We’ll soon find out.
I love it.
Stay tuned…
Tim Bolen – Consumer Advocate