The Real Truth About Dr. Vina Spiehler
The truth about Vina Spiehler, Ph.D by OKORIE OKOROCHA, M.S., M.S., ESQ.
I first encountered her in Stockton, California, in which 2 motorcycle riders were severely injured, including brain damage.
She blatantly lied about the toxicology, and the attorney doing her direct exam was beating a dead horse, but I let the attorney that hired her keep doing it.
She told the same le about 10 times to screw over the injured plaintiffs, but I did not object.
When it was my turn to cross-examine her, I proved unequivocally that she told boldface lies with the manufacturer literature and other scientific authorities.
She was caught off guard because I was new on the scene, and she had no idea she was going up against a real toxicologist that is also a trial attorney. I literally skewered her on cross-examination.
I have taken her deposition several times, and her Ph.D. is in testing drugs no one would ever use on rats and mice.
A lot of this is established by the last deposition I took of her below
FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
Videotaped Videoconference Deposition of
VINA $PIEHLER, PH.D.
Monday, February 26, 2024
The Deposition of Vina Spiehler, Ph.D., taken on behalf of Plaintiff, reported remotely via Zoom Videoconference with all parties attending remotely, beginning at 10:37 a.m. on Monday, February 26, 2024, by Sheila K. Russo, CSR No. 11760, a Certified Shorthand Reporter for the State of California, pursuant to notice.
* * *
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL:
For Plaintiff:
SULLIVAN & SULLIVAN
BY: JEROLD “GENE” SULLIVAN, ESQ. BY: RYAN MEDLER, ESQ.
1230 Rosecrans Avenue
Suite 600
Manhattan Beach, California 90266
310-376-0288
sullivanandsullivanattorneys@gmail.com
OKORIE OKOROCHA, ESQ.
117 East Colorado Boulevard Suite 465
Pasadena, California 91105
310-497-0321
For Defendants:
THE SAFARIAN FIRM
BY: KEVIN JOLLY, ESQ.
3150 Montrose Avenue
Glendale, California 91214
818-334-8528
ALSO PRESENT:
DEVON SOUSA,
VINA SPIEHLER, PH.D.,
the witness herein, having been placed under oath remotely, was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. OKOROCHA:
Q All right. Good morning, Dr. Spiehler. A Good morning.
Q All right. And I know you’ve had your depo taken many times. Is that correct?
A That’s correct.
Q So you’re familiar with the ground rules? I don’t need to go over them?
A I am, and you don’t need to do that this morning.
Q All right, great. So I want to start with your educational background. And I’m strictly asking about education you received, not anything you taught to anybody, even if you taught Watson and Crick, how the DNA Double Helix Works, that’s not my question. I’m only asking about education you received. Now, in your undergraduate degree was in chemistry; correct?
A Yes, I have a degree in chemistry, bachelor’s And you also have a master’s degree correct?
A My master’s degree is in analytical chemistry.
Q Okay. Now, in both your bachelor’s and master’s degree, you did not take any courses titled Pharmacology, nor Toxicology. Isn’t that correct?
A No. During the master’s I took a course in drug — I don’t remember the title of it, but it was about natural drugs, drugs that come from plants.
Q Okay. And alcohol doesn’t come from plants.
A Well, it could.
Q Okay. But you didn’t take any courses titled Pharmacology, nor Toxicology; correct?
A I don’t remember the titles. I don’t think so. I don’t think they would be such a general title on an undergraduate course.
Q Okay.
A Nor graduate course. They’d be specific.
Q Did any course have the words “pharmacology” or “toxicology” in your master’s or bachelor’s degrees?
A I don’t recall.
Q You don’t recall, okay.
A No.
Q Now, in — for your Ph.D. program, you obtained the Ph.D. program from the University of California
A I did.
Q Okay. And you were not enrolled in a medical school as a medical student; correct?
A That’s correct.
Q And you aren’t licensed to give any kind of medical assistance to any patients; correct?
A That’s correct. I’m not an M.D.
Q Okay. Have you ever written an order in a patient chart?
A I don’t — no, I wouldn’t do that.
Q Okay.
A I have no recall of ever doing that.
Q All right. And in your Ph.D. program, you did not take any courses titled Pharmacology that you earned academic credit for. Isn’t that correct?
A No. I took the pharmacology course along with the medical students, and I taught the pharmacology laboratory for the medical students.
MR. OKOROCHA: I didn’t ask you what you taught. And I said earlier, even if you taught Watson and Crick, how the DNA Double Helix Works, that’s not my question.
MR. JOLLY: Okay. Well, you asked a question, and she answered the question. So let’s try to stay away from being unnecessarily aggressive.
BY MR. OKOROCHA:
Q Okay. Let’s see. Let’s see. Do you remember having your deposition taken in a case — in a case of - it was Penhall v. Flatiron?
A I think that might have been the young man that fell down the stairs in a nightclub —
Q Okay.
A and passed away, and he was deceased. Is that the case?
Q I am not sure. I just have the transcript because I took the deposition. And you were specific do you recall being specifically asked: Do you recall how many pharmacology courses you earned academic credit for, not taught, but took a class and earned academic credit for?
And you said: No. Most were tutorial level as a graduate student where I was discussing the class with professors and doing assignments from the professor and giving them oral and written — an oral or written report to them. I don’t know how the credits were organized at that time.
Do you recall giving that testimony?
A No, I don’t.
Q Okay.
A But that is a description of how it was taught.
Q Okay. So in response to, Do you recall how many pharmacology courses that you earned academic credit for for your Ph.D., you put — you answered no; correct?
A At that time I didn’t.
Q Okay. Is there any —
A Is that the case involving the death on the freeway? I’m still not sure, Penhall v. Flatiron, which case you’re talking about.
Q Okay. Now, when asked okay. Well, let me just ask you, at the University of California Irvine, were there any toxicology courses that you earned academic credit for other than a general course in toxicology?
A I don’t recall if there were other courses. I did take a course of Dr. Shank, and I don’t recall the title of it, but I do think it was a general course in toxicology.
Q Okay. And that course was largely environment toxicology; correct?
A Yes, it would be.
Q Okay. And environmental toxicology is generally not about blood alcohol testing; correct?
A That’s true. I wouldn’t put that under environmental toxicology.
Q All right. So we’ve covered coursework in your bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. I want to go to your
dissertation about?
A The Ph.D. one
Q Yes.
A — was about a drug that is an adrenergic blocker, phenoxybenzamine, and how it might interact with pain control and pain impulses in the human body.
Q Okay. How many times does the word “alcohol” appear in your dissertation?
A No, it didn’t treat with alcohol at all.
Q Okay. And how many times were blood alcohol test results used in any part of your dissertation?
A Neither of my dissertations, the master’s or the doctoral, included alcohol.
Q Okay. Now, in your medical school training, were you clinically trained or laboratory trained?
A I was not clinically trained, so I guess one could conclude it was laboratory and lectures. I did attend the lectures.
Q Okay. So you were laboratory trained, not clinically trained; correct?
A Never heard the term “laboratory trained” with
regard to the medical school. I attended the lectures and taught the labs. I attended some of the labs, but I wouldn’t call that laboratory trained. trained in a deposition in Cruz v. Toshiba taken by Michael Norris?
A No, I do not.
MR. OKOROCHA: Okay. How do I do exhibits that I want to attach?
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: You can share screen if you’d like. MR. OKOROCHA: Share screen.
Q All right. Can you see my screen? A Yes, I do.
Q Okay. So at the top of the highlights — well, let’s start here. See the name, your name up here?
| A | Right. | ||
| Q | And that it’s Cruz | v. Toshiba. | And you were |
asked, “Are you lab trained or clinically trained?” And you responded, “Lab trained.”
Do you recall that?
A No, I don’t, but I could believe that.
Q Is that true?
A What I meant by “lab trained” was I did not work with actual —
MR. OKOROCHA: I’m just asking you if that’s what you
said.
MR. JOLLY: Counsel, she was answering the questions, and there is —
MR. JOLLY: No, no, no, no, no.
MR. OKOROCHA: She’s giving me a dissertation.
MR. JOLLY: There’s no reason for you to speak to her in that disrespectful tone of voice, and there’s no reason for you to be aggressive like this. Now, if you’re going to ask her a question about what she testified to in another deposition, you need to let her answer the question. But if you’re going to be that rude and that disrespectful, we’re going to cut this off. Or, in the alternative, I will give either Gene or Ryan the opportunity to step in so that we can take a complete deposition. But I will not subject her to that attitude from you.
MR. OKOROCHA: Okay. Can I get a yes-or-no question as to whether she said she was lab trained or clinically trained?
MR. JOLLY: You can let her answer the question that you pose without cutting her off.
BY MR. OKOROCHA:
Q Dr. Spiehler, did you say that you were lab trained in this deposition, yes or no?
A When given the choice, I’d have to choose lab trained, because I’m definitely not clinically trained.
Q Okay. And what is clinically trained? What does
SOUSA COURT REPORTERS – 800-843-7348 – SOUSA.COM
A Working with actual human patients.
Q Working with actual humans. And for your dissertation, did you do any research using any living organism at all?
A Animals, not humans, yes.
Q Okay. What kind of animals? A Rats and mice.
