New York Personal Injury Attorneys Blog

This article written by our partner Jeffrey B. Bloom in 2006 is just as relevant today as it was then.

“Last week, within days of the U.S. Senate performing its annual rite of taking up and then denying cloture to a bill to limit the rights of medical malpractice victims and cap damages in medical malpractice cases, a study was released which clearly demonstrates that our current tort system is working quite well in ensuring that the vast majority of cases are valid claims and that frivolous or non-meritorious malpractice cases are rarely brought and hardly ever result in damages being unjustly paid.

The study,” Claims, Errors, and Compensation Payments in Medical Malpractice Litigation,” was conducted by a prestigious group from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Risk Management Foundation and was published in the May 11, 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Physicians trained in reviewing malpractice claims were assigned malpractice files randomly selected from 1452 closed medical malpractice files provided to the group by five malpractice insurance companies in four regions in the U.S. The goal of the study was to determine if so-called tort-reformers are correct when they claim that frivolous malpractice claims are common and costly and are a substantial source of waste in the health care and legal system. The study supports what lawyers involved in malpractice litigation have been stating for years: the vast majority of malpractice cases brought are valid and the claimants are rightfully entitled compensation.

By Anthony H. Gair,

The popliteal artery is the major source of blood supply to the lower leg. The femoral artery becomes the popliteal artery as it passes through the hiatus of the adductor magnus muscle and enters the popliteal fossa. It generally ends at the inferior border of the popliteus muscle where it divides into the anterior and posterior tibial arteries. It lies directly behind the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus.1 Injuries to the popliteal artery during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction or arthroscopic meniscectomy are extremely rare.2 The popliteal artery is closely related to the posterior capsule of the knee joint, being separated from it only by a small amount of fat. The artery also kinks forward when the knee is flexed, placing it close to the posterior horn of the medial meniscus. It is thus imperative that surgery in the posterior aspects of the knee is performed under direct visualization. If an arterial injury is suspected following surgery of the knee an opinion from a vascular surgeon should be sought urgently.

As a New York medical malpractice attorney we understand the delayed recognition of a popliteal artery lesion is a major cause of amputation of the affected extremity. Further, true spasm of the popliteal artery is rare. It is thus dangerous to diagnose arterial spasms since in reality thrombosis is usually present. It is further, axiomatic that the absence of pulses in an extremity is due to arterial injury until proven otherwise. Additionally, compartment syndrome may accompany vascular injury secondary to prolonged ischemia, venous injury or partial laceration to the artery with bleeding into the compartments.