weinberger's patients, phyllis barnes. her sister says her road to hell began three months earlier when she went to see dr. weinberger. >> she had trouble catching her breath. she seemed to have sort of cold-like symptoms or bronchitis. she just seemed run down. >> you thought it might be allergies or a cold. >> yeah. >> it could have been a number of things. her voice was raspy. she had a sore throat. but perhaps the most troubling symptom for phyllis, a life long smoker, was she had recently beg begun coughing up blood. >> i believe when she went to dr. weinberger she told him she was a smoker. i don't think she tried to hide that from anybody. >> how did she find out about mark weinberger? >> i believe one of her co-workers may have seen billboards. >> the nose doctor. >> mm-hmm. >> in hindsight going to the self-proclaimed nose doctor may have been a mistake, but since phyllis had a long history of sinus problems seeking out a sinus specialist for her breathing problems seemed logical. >> the first time i heard about h

weinberger's treatment of phyllis barnes. james ho was the attorney hired by weinberger's malpractice insurer to defend him. ho did not respond to a request for an interview. however, in court he told the jury phyllis barnes needed sinus surgery. her history of chronic sinus problems not only made her an ideal candidate for weinberger's surgery, he said, but after that surgery she never again complained about her sinuses. writer buzz bissinger says that defense fits in perfectly with what he has learned about mark weinberger. >> i think mark weinberger, and i think he believes this every surgery he did was merited. he did no unnecessary surgeries. >> weinberger's lawyer had witnesses that said phyllis barnes' cancer was probably not even detectible when she first visited dr. weinberger. in fact, their lawyer said there were other medical professionals such as the emergency room doctors who had also seen phyllis barnes at about the same time and failed to detect her throat cancer. >> i would ask people just to look at it for m