multiple surgical interventions. This meant that, prior to minimally invasive surgery, many women underwent multiple laparotomies for only mild pathologies. In these cases, the surgical intervention of a laparotomy was considered to be more damaging than the disease itself. Prior to the advent of video laparoscopy, other types of surgeries (from other disciplines), such as the removal of the gallbladder (colecystectomy), bowel, bladder, and ureter resections and reaanastomoses, etc., were also only possible via laparotomy. Controversies This divide between the old way and the new led to a very intense philosophical debate within the medical community, causing antagonism between classical versus laparoscopic surgeons. Opponents of minimally invasive surgery accused laparoscopists of hiding their complication rates and advancing dangerous methods in order to seek fame and financial gain. Proponents accused classical surgeons of advocating outdated surgical procedures that were dangerous for patients, because they didn't want to take the time and expense to learn the new techniques. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, this internecine fighting became especially intense, culminating in even more serious allegations made against laparoscopists, including Nezhat, who had come to represent one of the minimally invasive movement's most visible leaders. Two lawsuits in particular also triggered nationwide media coverage about Nezhat and minimally invasive surgery. Starting in approximately April 2000, a series of newspaper articles were published about Nezhat, and his two surgeon brothers, Farr and Ceana, outlining all of the allegations claimed in these lawsuits. In one case, filed by former patient, Debra Manov, online court records show that the patient withdrew her medical malpractice claim with prejudice on July 21, 1998, after not being able to find a medical expert to corroborate her claims. The judge ruled that the claims were baseless and/or frivolous and dismissed Manov's entire case. The judge imposed a fine against Manov's attorney for filing a frivolous lawsuit. Another former patient, Mary (Stacey) Mullen, and her attorney, Jim Neal, claimed that Nezhat's surgery caused her permanent damage to her bowel. Mullen and Neal (and later Mullen's new attorney, Byrne) also accused Nezhat of battery and of being involved in RICO offenses (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations). The judge found these and several other claims to be baseless and frivolous. Jim Neal was disqualified from Mullen's case by a Georgia judge in 1995 for "unethical behavior" After a federal judge tossed out Neal's attempt to use racketeering charges against the Nezhats,