Herb Heineman is a retired professor of medicine specializing in infectious diseases, as well as former director of the Public Health Laboratory in Philadelphia. He has reviewed more than a hundred cases of alleged medical malpractice, for both plaintiffs and defendants, and has testified in court on numerous occasions. Although in writing this story he has drawn on his experience in medicine and the courtroom, all of the events and all of the characters are purely fictional. He presently lives with his wife in the Medford Leas retirement community in Lumberton, New Jersey. None of their three children has chosen medicine or law as a career. Dr. Heineman can be contacted at hsheineman@gmail.com.