Says Her Powers Vanished : ‘Psychic’ Awarded $988,000 in Hospital CAT-Scan Lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA —  A woman who claimed a CAT scan she received at a hospital in 1976 made her unable to use her psychic powers was awarded $988,000 by a jury last week.

The eight-member Common Pleas Court jury deliberated about 45 minutes before awarding Judith Richardson Haimes $600,000 plus $388,000 in interest on her malpractice claim against Temple University Hospital.

Haimes, 42, contended an allergic reaction to a dye injected during the exam gave her severe, recurring headaches that forced her to give up her practice in New Castle, Del., two months later.

Before the test, she said, she was able to read auras, conduct seances, observe the past and the future and help police solve crimes.

Judge Leon Katz had instructed the jury not to consider Haimes’ assertion about her psychic powers and her loss of business in weighing the suit.

Instead, he told jurors that if they found the hospital negligent in giving the CAT scan, they should consider only the damages related to the immediate allergic reaction, which included nausea, welts and hives.

After the verdict, hospital attorney Richard R. Galli argued that the jury had disregarded the judge’s instructions and asked Katz to set aside the verdict. The judge gave him 10 days to submit written arguments.

Haimes, who underwent the CAT scan as part of a search for the cause of recurring tumors, had introduced testimony from three law-enforcement officers who said she had helped them solve crimes with her psychic powers.