I would chose to communicate "over" the lawyers, I have a letter from the VA attorney stating that the doctor (s) were not VA employees, in addition I was a "warm body" which they needed for their interns, which were taught by Dr Zenati, who seems to greatly value his public image. The young lady who repaired my artery made the statement that the artery was so badly mangled she had to sever it, then stretch it to repair it. So the initail mistaken laceration was the first mistake, the failure to discover the laceration until a severe blood loss occurred was the second mistake. I would think this would be a slam dunk in a court of law. I really had no chest pain or other sympthoms, just a pain in the leg occasionally, the did the heart valve tests in Altoona VA then again in Pittsburgh VA, why was that. Could I as a little added pressure compose a resume about my experiences with these folks get some before and after photos on some tee shirts, purchase a little Ad space in the Pittsburgh papers and lean on these folks a little? It seems their main concern upon recovery was brain damage, since one of their "testers" made the remark, "see you don't have brain damage", when in fact I had never mentioned that and at the time was asking about the loss of use of one arm!!