Testimony got underway Monday in the Schuylkill County court in the civil suit brought by Robert Vaughn, 712 Pinewood Circle, Pottsville, on his own behalf and on behalf of his late wife, Kathleen, against Dr. Benjamin P. Darhun, a member of the Geisinger Medical Group, the Geisinger Clinics and Geisinger Health System, with offices in Orwigsburg; Dr. James W. Fitzpatrick and Marshall-Rismiller and Associates, from Pottsville.

Kathleen Vaughn was a patient of Dr. Darhun and on July 16, 2004, visited him and complained of an irregular heart rate and received treatment.In the early morning hours of Nov. 24, 2004, her husband found his wife unresponsive with agonal breathing and no pulse and summoned medics. She was first taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Pottsville and later transferred to Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Townshp. She died Nov. 26, 2004.The suit is seeking damages for pain and suffering because of the alleged negligence of the defendants. President Judge William E. Baldwin is presiding over the jury trial.