Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

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NursingMedical malpractice is often preventable. According to statistics from the Journal of the American Medical Association, 80% of adverse events in the health care system are the result of human errors. Medical malpractice is not only committed by doctors but also by nurses and other health care professionals. In a recent article in Minority Nurse, Nicole Thomas, a legal nurse consultant shares some very interesting statistics about medical malpractice. She also gives the following tips to nurses to avoid being sued for medical malpractice:

  1. Nurses should make sure they always proprely document their work. When a nurse writes a clear and precise description of what happens to a patient when he is under her care it  not only helps her and the staff make sure the patient is proprely being taken care but it also protects the nurse in case of a potential lawsuit. A nurse who defends herself  by saying “I did it but I forgot to document it”  will have trouble convincing the jury in a medical malpractice trial.
  2. Not only nurses should document everything but they should make sure their notes are easy to read. Even though a nurse may have been doing the right thing, unreadable notes open the door for a patient to question the nurse’s actions in considering filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.
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Urgent Care Centers have been opening all around New York City and the US these recent years  but are they really safe? Here are the most common acute care medical malpractice risks:

  • Patient is being send home with a very abnormal vital sign without a re-evaluation of that abnormal sign
  • Poor risk factor evaluation happens when  practitioners forget to ask important questions about the medical history of the patient
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Abdominal compartment syndrome is well recognized as a potential complication of laparotomy for trauma. It has also been reported after repair of large ventral hernias and may be anticipated in any case in which there is a loss of domain for abdominal organs. Failure to diagnose Intra-Abdominal Hypertension leading to Abdominal Compartment Syndrome, multi-system organ failure and patient death following surgery of the Abdominal Cavity may constitute medical malpractice. For a complete discussion of this insidious condition see our web page, “Abdominal Compartment Syndrome”

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missing hospital patientTo let a dementia patient wander out of a hospital in New York constitutes medical malpractice that can result in serious injury and in some cases the death of the patient.

On Monday, Mt Sinai Roosevelt Hospital located on 10th Avenue in Manhattan called the police after they discovered that one of their patients with dementia eloped from the hospital. 58 year old Nilsaida Smiley, a hospital patient who has been there for the past year, wandered out of the hospital barefoot in a red t-shirt and blue pajama bottoms. The police are now asking New Yorkers to help them to find her. The woman is 58 years old, 5-foot-3 and 115 pounds. She is black with brown eyes and black hair. Anyone who saw her can call the Police at 800-577-TIPS. A dementia patient who gets lost in New York is at high risk of injury or death from falls, accidents and exposure.

According to a report from the Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 35% of the hospital population has some type of dementia. Wandering is a common habit for people with Alzheimer’s or dementia. It is the hospitals responsibility to keep them safe and prevent them from elopement. If a loved one suffers from dementia and needs to be hospitalized make sure that the hospital has a specific policy and rules in place. Hospitals who are effectively  protecting their most vulnerable patients will usually have the following:

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Multiple cases of medical malpractice committed by several doctors including 3 neurosurgeons almost killed a patient according to a recent article written by Sandra Boodman in the Washington Post. Brad Chesivior from Maryland almost died after several doctors failed to diagnose a brain bleed. When a neurosurgeon finally made the proper diagnosis, the acute subdural hematoma that he was suffering from was as large as the size of an adult’s palm and was threatening to kill him. According to the neurosurgeon who made the proper diagnosis, Bard had probably no more than 24 hours to live and needed immediate surgery.

In the article the author describes how multiple doctors misdiagnosed the 60 year old man to the point that he almost died. The first significant symptoms appeared just after Thanksgiving 2013. Chesivoir suddenly became very weak and unable to walk. He was transported by ambulance to a Maryland emergency room. As he arrived at the ER he felt better and was able to walk again. The ER staff performed CT and MRI brain scans as well as multiple blood tests.  Doctors thought that he was the victim of a heart attack or a stroke but tests didn not show any of these. They completely missed evidence of multiple bleeds and sent Chesivior home with a diagnosis of headache.  They told him he should consult with his internist.  Chesivior went to see his internist who recommended he sees a neurosurgeon. The neurosurgeon looked at the previous scans made at the ER and missed the bleeds too. Instead she ordered additional tests and scheduled a follow up appointment almost two months later. In between, Chesivior’s headaches got worse. When they got even worse, he consulted with another neurosurgeon as his neurosurgeon was out of town. The second neurosurgeon told him that his problem was a typical migraine and prescribed amitryptiline. A few days later he developed double vision. The neurosurgeon told him it was an adverse effect from the medication and reduced his dose. The problem got worse. Two days later, he went to consult with a ophthalmologist who told his wife to drive him immediately to the ER where a fourth neurosurgeon finally proprely diagnosed the problem and saved him from death by operating on him the following day.

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Among the various types of medical malpractice suffered by hospital patients, misdiagnosis accounts for approximately 10% of patient deaths. In a recent Opinion Page from the New York Times, Sandeep Jauhar, a Long Island cardiologist, wants to Bring Back the Autopsy as a weapon to fight misdiagnosis.

With the evolution of medicine and the proliferation of medical tests, autopsy doesn’t seem as essential these days as it was in the past to determine the cause of death of a patient. Before 1971, community hospitals were required to perform autopsies on 20% of their dead patients to earn their accreditation from the Joint Commission. This requirement was dropped after that date. Furthermore in 1986, Medicare considered autopsies financially draining and stopped paying for them. Now an autopsy is mostly considered by doctors as an educational tool.

Recent studies however have demonstrated that despite the medical technological advances autopsy can be a very effective manner to reduce the rate of hospital misdiagnosis.  In his opinion Sandeep Jauhar suggests that Medicare and private insurers pay for them again so that financial considerations doesn’t limit their use.

 

 

 

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The Obama administration is trying a new system to try to prevent doctors from prescribing expensive drugs to medicare patients when a cheaper similar drug is available.

Doctors who are giving drugs to their patients in their office such as doctors treating eyes, cancer and arthritis are required by Medicare to purchase the drug and then to get a re-reimbursement from Medicare. When Medicare pays them back, doctors also receive an incentive of 6% of the cost of the drug. Therefore if doctors have a choice between a $50 drug or a $2,000 drug they may  tempted to choose the most expensive one to make extra money.

Previous studies such as “Least Costly Alternative: Impact on Prostate Cancer Drugs Cover Under Medicare Part B”   or “Does Reimbursement Influence Chemotherapy Treatment For Cancer”  have shown that the actual Medicare system of reimbursement is indeed perversely encouraging doctors to prescribe the most expensive drug for their patients.

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An 11 year old girl who suffered medical malpractice in New York received a settlement that was split $67,000 in a savings account and a structured settlement that provided for regular payments when the girl turns 18 year old.  The money in the bank account could only be withdrawn with court approval. Last year her mother asked for  $47,000 but the court turned her down. A few days later she falsified a court order and withdrew $47,000 out of the account of her daughter. She told the bank that her daughter needed additional surgery in San Diego. She then used the money for a tummy tuck procedure, a liposuction and a trip to Disneyland. According to the criminal complaint the mother also submitted forged court orders on three additional occasions for a total of $19,500. The girl had been born with a brachial plexus injury to her right arm. The mother has been charged with second-degree grand larceny and second degree possession of a forged instrument by The Queens District Attorneys office.

Read more in the New York Times

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David NewmanIn another case of medical malpractice related to sexual assault in New York, a patient filed a lawsuit against the Mt Sinai Hospital and against Dr David Newman  an ER doctor who allegedly drugged her and then ejaculated on her face.  The patient had checked in at the Mt Sinai Emergency Room for shoulder pain. She was given morphine and was asked by the nurse to remove her bra and put on a gown to get an X-Ray. After the X-Ray, Dr. David Newman walked into the room where the patient was lying on a bed. He told her “I am going to give you a shot of morphine”. The patient told him that she was already given morphine by the nurse but she felt a burning sensation on her arm and believes she was administered another shot of morphine by the doctor. The patient alleged that when the doctor was examining her he started fondling her breast. She also alledged that after forcibly touching her he started masturbating and ejaculated on her face. She couldn’t move because she was heavily medicated. After he finished the doctor wiped the semen off her face. However when the patient woke up she found some left over semen on her face and on her chest and she wiped it with her gown. She then saved the blanket and the gown as evidence. DNA tests matched Dr Newman who was arrested last month and charged with sexual abuse and forcible touching.  The doctor appeared in court yesterday.

Read more in the Gothamist

 

 

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Robert HaddenIn New York, sexually abusing a patient is not only gross medical malpractice but it is also a crime. Dr Robert Hadden, an Upper West side gynecologist who had been charged with sexually assaulting 6 pregnant patients, accepted a plea deal yesterday. The doctor admitted to sexually abusing two patients. He admitted to performing oral sex on a patient for no valid medical purpose while the patient was incapable of consent. He also admitted forcible touching another patient. Both are misdemeanors.  As part of the plea deal, the doctor will have to register as a level one sex offender and will loose his medical license. He will not have to serve jail time or do community service.

Read more in the NY Daily News

 

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