THE MAJORS: Tom Horton, Alice Horton, Mickey Horton, Marie Horton, Jean Sawyer, Alan Ferguson

THE MINORS: Carl Sawyer, Anna Sawyer, Rusty Lincoln, Walter Edison, Milt Culver, Harold Wade, Tony Merritt

In late November 1965, Tom Horton diagnosed Carl Sawyer, a 37 year-old real estate salesman, with a stomach ulcer. Not a terribly serious matter, Tom simply warned Carl to take care of himself and to avoid smoking, alcohol, and spicy foods. Meanwhile, Tom prepared to walk his last daughter, Marie, down the aisle. The night before Marie's wedding to Tony Merritt, Tom and the rest of the family prepared to go out to a pre-wedding dinner. Just before leaving, Tony asked to speak with Marie alone in the study. While they were talking, Tom received a phone call from Mrs. Anna Sawyer, Carl's wife. Carl didn't feel well and she was hoping that Tom could pay him a visit; Tom promised to stop by after dinner. Soon after this, however, Tom and his son Mickey discovered Marie unconscious in her room. Seeing an open bottle of antidepressants nearby, Tom assumed the worst -- Marie, for some reason, had tried to kill herself. Racing against the clock, Tom worked desperately to save his daughter's life. Meanwhile, another tragedy was developing elsewhere.

While Tom worried about Marie, he received another phone call from Mrs. Sawyer. Carl's discomfort was a bit stronger; Tom agreed to stop by shortly. However, Marie took a turn for the worse just then and Tom's first priority was his daughter, of course. Meanwhile, Mrs. Sawyer called a third time. This time, Alice answered the phone; Carl had, too, taken a turn for the worse and was in serious pain and needed medical attention. Alice asked Mrs. Sawyer to stay on the line while she went to get Tom. But when she arrived at Marie's room and saw what was happening, Alice was so overcome with shock that she completely forgot about Mrs. Sawyer's phone call. After two hours, Tom finally managed to get Marie out of danger. With his own tragedy behind, Tom remembered Mrs. Sawyer's phone calls and decided to honor his promise and pay Carl a visit. Sadly, he was too late. By the time Tom reached the Sawyer home at midnight, Carl was dead. His ulcer had hemorrhaged.

Only days later, Tom received a malpractice lawsuit filed by Carl's daughter, Jean Sawyer. Jean was convinced that Tom had been negligent, and that because of that negligence her father was dead. In fact, in Jean's eyes Tom had committed murder. Working with lawyer Alan Ferguson, Jean resolved to end Tom's career to do her father justice. According to Jean, three phone calls had been made to Tom that night, and yet he took well over two hours to finally respond to their calls. In addition, she blamed Tom of having misdiagnosed Carl and leading the family to believe that his ulcer had been less serious that it actually was. Unfortunately, Tom couldn't strongly defend himself against these accusations. Even though the family knew the reason for why Tom had taken a long time to visit the Sawyers, he refused to make Marie's suicide attempt public. At the same time, Alice blamed herself for Carl's death since she had forgotten to give Tom the message that Carl's condition had worsened. As the case against Tom grew stronger, the University Hospital board of directors felt compelled to take action against him to maintain their integrity. Led by Dr. Walter Edison, the board of directors asked for Tom's resignation. As all of this was happening, Marie was kept in the dark about Tom's legal situation. Still recovering from her nervous breakdown, Marie was too psychologically fragile to know the predicament that Tom was in - a predicament that she would most likely blame herself for causing.

In January, Tom's case finally went to trial and he was defended by Mickey. From the beginning, the tide seemed to go against Tom. The first two witnesses, Jean and Anna Sawyer, gave strong and emotional testimonies that painted Tom as a negligent doctor. Tom's persistent refusal to inform the court the reason for why he had taken so long to arrive at the Sawyer home didn't help at all. However, Jean's testimony also revealed a key element: Carl had not followed Tom's instructions. The night he died, Carl had had a few drinks. Thanks to the testimonies of doctors Milt Culver and Harold Wade, it was established that Tom had NOT misdiagnosed Carl; they also revealed that Carl's hemorrhage was most likely caused by those drinks. However, the fact remained that Carl's death could have been prevented had Tom responded to Mrs. Sawyer's phone calls promptly. This was the main basis for the case against Tom, and he continued to refuse to explain the cause of his tardiness. Despite the pleas of his family and his best friend Rusty Lincoln, Tom chose to spare Marie the humiliation. As the trial drew to a close, the odds were still stacked against Tom. But the day the verdict was to be revealed, Marie found out about Tom's trial and why he was being accused of malpractice. Knowing that her father would never reveal the truth, Marie courageously went to the courthouse. Once there, she stopped the proceedings to give her own testimony despite Tom's pleas to remain quiet. As everyone watched breathlessly, Marie told the court just what had made Tom "unavoidably detained." She confessed to having attempted to commit suicide, and that thanks to Tom she was still alive. Because of Marie's testimony, it became clear to everyone that it had been impossible for Tom to visit Carl because he'd had an emergency happening in his own home. As a result, the case was dismissed.

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