Offspring Drummer Turned OBGYN Saves Juror's Life In Own Malpractice Trial

Former drummer for iconic punk rock band The Offspring and Northern California OBGYN Dr. James Lilja performed life-saving CPR on a prospective juror in the courtroom of his own malpractice trial. Law360 reports that Lilja is facing medical malpractice charges filed by John and Stephenie Sargiotto in Alameda County Superior Court for negligent treatment of Stephanie Sargiotto. Further details of the case were not immediately available. 

The would-be-juror reportedly passed out while waiting to be called in the back of the courtroom. They then hit their head and collapsed to the floor and lost consciousness. Lilja rushed to the person with his nurse assistant and gave them life-saving CPR and shocked them with a defibrillator. The person had a pulse when paramedics rushed them to the hospital, Law360 reports. The current condition of the patient is still unknown.  

Sargiottos' attorney called for a mistrial since Lilja's heroic actions in the courtroom may sway the opinion of potential jurors. The judge said the juror's bias would be "incurable" and set a new trial date for April 2nd. 

In an old blog post on The Offspring's website, guitarist and frontman Dexter Holland described Lilja as a "great guy with a pretty warped sense of humor" who was "dying to get into medical school."

"In fact, he was so intent on getting into medical school that he didn‘t really even practice with us much," the post continued, "which is part of why he‘s not our drummer anymore!"

Before entering the medical field, Lilja was known as the drummer for The Offspring, a legendary skate-punk band from Garden Grove, California that formed in 1984. Lilja is their original drummer and performed with the group from 1984 to 1987. The Offspring would go on to have massive commercial success with songs like "Come Out and Play," Self Esteem" and "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)." The group has sold over 40 million records worldwide and their third album Smash broke records for most albums sold on an independent record label. Lilja was replaced by drummer Ron Welty in 1987, who stayed in The Offspring for 16 years. 

Photo Credit: Bay Area Gynecology Oncology