Star's surgery puts doctor in hospital

Johnny Hallyday is doing better but his doctor is feeling sore, physically and mentally. The saga of the medical problems of France's veteran, and hitherto indestructible, pop star continued to dominate almost all the French news media at the weekend.

A celebrity doctor, accused by Hallyday's entourage of botching a back operation on the singer, was beaten up in front of his children by two hooded men in central Paris.

Dr Stephane Delajoux's lawyers blamed the attack on what they called a "witch-hunt" in the press after Hallyday's producer and manager criticised the surgeon.

Delajoux, who was set upon outside his ex-wife's home, was said by his legal team to be very upset by the "unjustified" criticism. They said he was considering suing the French medical association, which had described him as "not to be recommended".

Hallyday, 66, who has been France's favourite pop star for almost half a century, remained in an artificially induced coma at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. Last week, there was deep concern about his condition after a second operation in LA to clear up alleged complications from the first operation in Paris in November.

However, Hallyday's son David, also a pop singer, said yesterday that his father would be revived from the artificial coma today or tomorrow.

"My dad's doing better. He is coming around slowly. I spoke to his doctor. He is out of danger."

Delajoux, 43, a controversial figure but the surgeon of choice for many French actors and pop stars, was punched to the ground and kicked on the Avenue Wagram, not far from the Arc de Triomphe. He had attended a birthday party and was waving goodbye to his children on a balcony above when he was attacked by two men wearing hooded jackets.

He reportedly sustained a chest injury and was seen sporting a black eye as he left hospital on Sunday.

Although his assailants made no mention of Hallyday, Delajoux's lawyers said they were convinced the attack was provoked by the intense media coverage of comments by the singer's manager, Jean-Claude Camus.

Camus said US doctors were "appalled" by the work done on Hallyday's back by Delajoux in Paris, and had described the original operation as a "massacre".

Lawyers for Delajoux, however, insisted yesterday that the surgery on an aggravated slipped disc was a complete success. "The witch-hunt that has been going on is absolutely unacceptable and must end," said one lawyer.

Even if Hallyday recovers fully, as now seems likely, his legions of fans are asking whether he will ever perform again. He is in the midst of a year-long, "final" live tour of France, which is said by family and friends to have taken a toll on his health.

- INDEPENDENT