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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Unfortunately many doctors are not very good at communication with their patients and to protect themselves from medical malpractice, they increase the number of office visits and perform additional but often unnecessary procedures and tests. They call it “defensive medicine” but according to a recent article in the New York Times written by Aarron E. Carroll, a professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, all these extra precautions don’t reduce the risk of being sued. Better communication with the patients does. Previous studies and statistics clearly demonstrate that doctors who are willing to change their behavior and become better communicators will significantly decrease their risk of being sued for medical malpractice. Read the complete article

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CuomoThe law in New York State requires victims of medical malpractice to file their claim within 15 months after medical malpractice occurs at a public hospital and 2 1/2  years against a private hospital or physician. Lavern’s Law proposes to start the statute of limitations from the time a patient discovers the malpractice rather than from the time the medical malpractice occurs. Lavern’s Law is named after Lavern Wilkinson who died from a curable form of lung cancer after doctors at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, NYC, failed to tell her that a chest X-ray they took in 2010 showed a small, suspicious mass on her right lung and instead sent her back home with Motrin. Lavern only discovered that she had cancer when she was terminal. By that time, the statute of limitations had expired and she wasn’t able to sue the hospital for failure to diagnose lung cancer. She died leaving behind her a daughter who was severely autistic. The city settled Wilkinson’s lawsuit, for $625,000 the day she died, March 7, 2013. Medical malpractice experts said her case would have netted over $10 million had it not been for the statute of limitations. Yesterday Governor Cuomo gave his support to the law. Read more in the NY Daily News

 

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butt-lift-7-1A 34 year old woman died from a botched butt lift  in Queens, NYC. The woman traveled from Maryland with her mother to receive silicon injections in a basement apartment that a phony plastic surgeon  was using as her office. After she received the injection, the patient started gurgling and struggling to breath. Her mother tried to resuscitate her with CPR. She asked the unlicensed doctor to call 911. Instead of calling for help the doctor grabbed her car keys, ran out of the apartment and took off in a gray SUV. The police are still looking for her.

This is the second time that a woman died after a botched butt lift in New York. In July 2013, 22 year old Tamara Blain died after unlicensed beautician Tamira Mobley allegedly filled her with butt-enhancing injections inside the Liberty Inn Hotel on W. 10th St.

Last year, Liliana Coello was sentenced to two years in jail after she gave a botched butt lift to a patient and injected her buttocks with Krazy Glue (see previous blog).

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Failure to diagnose neurosarcoidosis can be medical malpractice that can drastically impair the quality of life of a person. In its “Case of the Month” , the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAPA) discusses the case of a 68 year old woman who’s condition severely worsened after she was misdiagnosed. In 2011 the patient complained to her neurologist that she had difficulties walking. The neurologist’s diagnosis was normal pressure hydrocephalus and had a ventriculoperitoneal shunt placed to drain the increased Cerebrospinal fluid. The condition of the patient seemed to improve at the beginning but after two years the symptoms worsened and she developed double vision and couldn’t walk without a cane. The neurologist thought the problem was coming from the shunt and tried different adjustments that were unsuccessful.  The patient was using a walker and suffered from ataxia, weakness and increased urinary incontinence when she decided to consult with a neuromuscular clinic. The patient was diagnosed with a rare condition called neurosarcoidosis. The patient received cortocosteroids and her condition started to improve after 5 days.

Read the complete case in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAPA)

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A doctor who prescribes opioids to a patient with a history of abuse, fails to closely follow up with a patient who exhibits addictive behavior or disregards family concerns or warnings from other professionals such as pharmacists or primary physicians could face medical malpractice  and/or wrongful death litigation, criminal prosecution, and a disciplinary proceeding by the State Medical Board.

In New York City, deaths related to opioid analgesics have increased 256% from 2000 to 2013 in Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx are the most affected of the 5 Boroughs. To fight this epidemic, the New York Sate Department of Health is launching a Bronx detailing campaign during which representatives will visit more than 1000 doctors to educate them about about safe and judicious opioid analgesic prescribing. A similar campaign in Saten Island in 2013 lead to a reduction of 29% of overdose deaths from opioid analgesics.

Read the press release from the New York Health Department

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Operation Provide HopeWhen medical malpractice or medical error occurs at an American hospital or clinic, the victim of the malpractice or his or her family has the right to legally challenge the facility and obtain explanations and compensation.  The story is very different for the 1.3 million active-duty service members of our nation. Not only are they captive of the military medical system and can’t get care elsewhere without special approval but also if medical malpractice is committed they have no legal right to bring a medical malpractice suit. In a recent article in the New York Times, Sharon LaFraniere investigates this issue and describes the nightmares that many military families are enduring.

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blood bagIn the US red blood cell units can be stored for up to 42 days after they are collected.  Previous studies have questioned this medical practice and  have implied that the storage duration may impact the quality of the blood cell units. These studies which were based on observations showed a correlation between the transfusion of blood stored for a longer duration and increased morbidity and mortality. However according to National Institutes of Health the clinical significance of these findings was  difficult to determine due to study-design limitations.

In order to get a better opinion on whether red blood cell storage duration impacts a patient’s clinical outcome after transfusion  the NIH  funded the Red Cell Storage Duration Study (RECESS) that was also supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

RECESS was conducted at 27 hospitals in the US including Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University and Columbia University Medical Center in New York. The study evaluated 1,098 cardiac surgery patients who were randomized to receive red blood cell units stored for short (up to 10 days) or long periods (21 or more days).  The study was conducted from January 2010 to January 2014.

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Wallcure simulation ssalineTwo patients were seriously injured in a New York urgent care facility after they were inadvertently administered non sterile simulation intravenous fluids. They both experienced a febrile illness during administration and had to be hospitalized. One of them developed sepsis. Both of them survived.

The cases were reported to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH)last year. The NYSDOH  began a collaborative investigation with the CDC in December.  The investigation found that four other New York outpatient facilities had received Wallcur simulation saline. All facilities said they had ordered the real product and weren’t aware that they had received a simulation product until they were were notified by the NYSDOH. Fortunately none of the facilities had used the product yet.

Wallcur recalled all its saline simulation products from the market at the beginning of the year (see previous blog). Investigation was pursued by the CDC at a national level. So far nationally 9 adverse events have been reported for 25 people including 11 hospitalizations. Two deaths occurred even though it wasn’t clear that they were related to the administration of the product.  All clinical facilities that received the products confirmed that they were not aware at time of purchase that the product was intended for simulation only. Read more on the CDC website

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TestosteroneIn recent years the off-label use of testosterone has been exploding as doctors prescribed testosterone to their aging patient to improve their libido and make them feel more vigorous and younger. However, the FDA warned that recent studies indicate that the off label use of testosterone as the ultimate anti-aging therapy may  increase cardiovascular risks.  Testosterone was only approved by the FDA to treat hypoginadism, a condition of the sex glands that can be genetic or result from damages of chemotherapy or infection.   Therefore the FDA is now requiring all manufacturers of approved prescription testosterone to change their labeling to clarify the approved used of the medication and warn about  the possible increased risk of heart attacks and strokes associated with testosterone use. Read more in Medical Law Perspectives

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Patient SafetyMedical errors and adverse events are among the leading causes of death and personal injury in the U.S. According to a recent study in the Journal of Patient Safety  the number of premature deaths associated with preventable harm to patients is estimated at more than 400,000 per year. Serious harm seems to be 10- to 20-fold more common than lethal harm.

The patient safety awareness week is an annual campaign led by the National Patient Safety Foundation to create awareness about patient safety among healthcare providers and their patients. The campaign is running this week and the subject is “United in safety” . The emphasis is on better communication between healthcare providers and patients to reduce adverse events or medical errors.

Tomorrow Wednesday March 11th at 8:30 pm ET anyone interested can join a twitter chat on patient and family engagement using  #PSAWunited to participate. People interested can also join a free webcast on patient safety on Thursday March 12th.

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