New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog

A reporter has learned that a Hilltown, PA, doctor is not only facing a medical malpractice lawsuit, he has also been charged with trading pills for sexual favors. The 68-year old physician stands accused of more than a dozen drug related charges for his alleged involvement in prescribing medication to several women for sex.

The sister of a 31-year old woman stated that her sister had received several prescriptions from the accused doctor, including for at least six different drugs the day before she died. The source also learned that with each prescription the woman received from the doctor, she at least had to show her breasts to him. Some of the drugs the doctor prescribed to the 31-year old woman were in her blood stream the day she died include Oxycodone, Diazepam, Zolpidem, Amitriptyline, Sertraline and Carisoprodol. All reportedly prescribed by the doctor to the woman the day before she overdosed.

The medical malpractice lawsuit that has been filed against the doctor is for his alleged role in the suicide death of a local police detective; the reporter was told. Reports include the detective had recent surgery on his shoulder and had been off from work for about three months. The accused doctor was the detective’s private doctor so he consulted with him regarding his experiencing some anxiety over returning to work. His doctor prescribed Xanax at a dosage of 1mg. Within one month, the dosage was increased to 8 mg. Most reports stipulate that 8 mg is a large dosage of the drug that has been known for suicidal thoughts to be one of its side effects. Before the end of the month, the detective was dead following a self-inflicted gunshot.

These are but two instances the doctor is reported to have legal problems over. The criminal case against him lists several females that the doctor allegedly prescribed medication for sex, and thus far, neither the criminal case, nor the lawsuit has made it to court yet. The rest of the facts will soon be discovered.

Police were able to affect the doctor’s arrest due to an unrelated investigation, which indirectly lead to his prescribing medication for sex. This took place in The Bronx and Westchester County.

Continue reading "Doctor Facing Malpractice Suit for Suicide " »

An experienced midwife has recently been charged for the manslaughter of an infant who was under her care. All the charges were ultimately dropped except for injuries and cruelty and carrying out medical procedures without a license to children.

The midwife received a sentence of four years, but most of it was suspended. The witness explained that this actually meant that she would probably be in jail for five days. She received a fine of $5,000 and is not permitted to practice midwifery or applying for a license for the next four years.

The doctor remarked that it was a victory that she saw the error of her ways. This is actually fairly unusual in these types of cases, with the guilty person still protesting their innocence.

The case relates to when the midwife was supervising a home delivery. The parents were initially receiving treatment from Birth Care. However, this clinic advised against a home delivery because the baby was in breach. The midwife was chosen so that the parents could still have a home delivery.

The midwife presented herself as an expert in complicated births. She did not have a license for midwifery in Virginia, however she was experienced. Court records show that she has supervised with over 1,000 births throughout her career.

This delivery became much more complicated than it was first thought. The head of the child became stuck. The baby was born around 15 minutes later but he did not have a heartbeat due to the medical malpractice.

The midwife managed to successfully resuscitate the baby. After some time she asked the parents to request further medical assistance. The baby was transferred to hospital by ambulance and died two days later as a result from the complications at the time of birth.

The midwifing community in brooklyn and Staten Island explained that this would put many midwives off accepting to supervise home births which were complicated in nature. There is even a Facebook page which has information about past successful births and many letters of support for the midwife.

Continue reading "Midwife Pleads Guilty over Case Involving Infants Death" »

A Florida family recently received a settlement or $19.2 million, in a suit that could be the first of its kind in the area. However, the payment for medical malpractice of the settlement may become dicey.

In 2007, only 15 days after her birth at HealthPark Medical Center, the family’s baby daughter was given a dose of “nutrients”. However, the dosage was wrong, and it was filled as 100 times the dose, stated a doctor. The mistake led to severe complications, including cardiac arrest.

A study explained that after the mistake that almost cost their daughter her life, the family sued the Lee Memorial Health System. The baby girl, now three and a half years old, still suffers severe effects from the accident. She is blind and has cerebral palsy. Her injuries will cause her to need constant care for the rest of her life. She will always be wheelchair bound. She will need to be fed and cared for the rest of her life.

According to a person in the know, the hospital has released a statement discussing that they don’t feel like they should be held accountable for the child’s medical problems. They believe her medical issues stem from her being born three months early and weighing in at only one and a half pounds. This happens in many places including hospitals in New York City and Staten Island.

The family may only see $200,000 of the settlement amount though, due to liability caps. The hospital has never paid a claims bill through the courts, but after appeals and motions to retrial, this may be the first time they do.

Continue reading "Family Receives $19.2 After Daughter Was Given A Wrong Dose " »

The woman in this medical malpractice case got a rough deal from the get-go, indicated a source. She was only 35-years old and a mother of four children, when she experienced unexplained headaches and other strange symptoms. In July of 2006, she went to the nearest hospital for medical attention.

Testing indicated that she had a non-bleeding aneurysm and a hospital neurosurgeon put coils into it. Unfortunately, the surgical team didn’t notice they had also perforated one of the arteries in her brain. From there on out, things went from bad to worse, explained the observer. For instance, the woman, who had been put on Heparin, a blood thinning medication, started to show signs that she was having a stroke. A nurse noticed the symptoms, but still gave the woman her Heparin.

Unfortunately, the doctors didn’t find out about the problem until it was too late to do anything and the woman’s brain was filled with blood and she had sustained significant brain damage. The complications of this fiasco left her paralyzed on one side and trying to cope with poor vision and a whole host of other medical problems. Her life had been totally changed and would never be the same again, added the investigator.

The negligent nurse settled for $1 million prior to trial and a jury awarded her $23 million to provide for her constant care. The trial took a while to get to court, but that’s usually the case with complex medical malpractice lawsuits. Most cases like this in Manhattan and Long Island require expert witnesses to testify to what standard of care was violated not to mention the fact that there would be months of intensive reading relating to the patient’s medical files.

Continue reading "Woman who suffered permanent brain damage due to medical malpractice receives $23 million" »

A three year old child who died at a clinic in Kolsewadi, Kalyan is the subject of a medical malpractice suit. The parents of the child claim that the child died because he did not receive the necessary treatment. They have recently filed a report at the local police station.

The family was in the city at an engagement party. After some time the child starting vomiting violently. This was enough to concern the parents and take him straight to the emergency room of the nearest doctor. The doctor did treat the child. However, by morning the child had died. This was obviously a very upsetting time for the parents.

The parents have alleged that the reason for this boy’s death is because the hospital failed to correctly diagnose the cause of the symptoms. This meant that they prescribed the wrong medicine which did nothing and ultimately lead to his death. The parents are adamant that the child’s death was preventable, and is something that shouldn’t have been allowed to happen.

The hospital denies all the allegations. They state that they took the best care of the child which was possible. The doctor has been handed a statement which explains that someone was with the child at all times. The child was also given standard treatment while the results of various tests came back. The hospital did everything in its power for the little child, and is sympathetic with the Parents pain. The hospital says that they are not liable for the death because they had given the very best standard of care.

The local police department is currently investigating the claim. They are conducting a post mortem to find out the exact cause of death. They will also call on expert witnesses to try and discover whether or not the death was preventable and whether medical malpractice took place.

The police explain that if the expert witnesses suggest that there was negligence then a case will be filed in court for medical negligence. Police in Nassau and Suffolk would handle the case in the same way.

Continue reading "Hospital allegedly gave Wrong Medicine to Child" »

The patient in this med mal case was admitted to a medical center in the US, where she was treated by one of the doctors on staff. While the records are not clear on precisely why the woman was admitted or what treatment the doctor administered, it was evidently something that the patient felt amounted to medical malpractice, or she would not have chosen to sue the doctor.
As a part of the statement filed in court, the papers indicate that the doctor violated the accepted standard of care for the treatment he provided and that the plaintiff suffered harm because of that violation. In many medical malpractice cases, the presence of another doctor, an “expert,” is required to provide testimony that what the doctor being sued did was not up to the accepted standards of the area the physician practiced in. For this reason, medical malpractice cases are often long and involved and deal with complex medical information, outlined the reporter.

Interestingly enough, even though the latest lawsuit against this particular doctor does not specify what he did, this is not the first time that he has been named in a lawsuit. An earlier lawsuit in which the jury found for the doctor, said he did nothing wrong when he did not order restraints to be put on an elderly woman. In that case, the woman was overmedicated after surgery and fell out of her bed.

At trial, the jury was asked if any of the doctor’s actions led to the plaintiff’s fall. The jury was only out for 30 minutes before returning a verdict in favor of the defendant doctor.
This latest lawsuit is asking for compensation for medical costs, mental anguish and impairment. Hospitals in The Bronx and Staten Island take precautions to guard against situations like this one.

Continue reading "Doctor violates standard of medical care resulting in medical malpractice " »

The last place one would expect to have narcotics for pain over prescribed would be in a pain clinic. Unfortunately, that is what happened in this egregious medical malpractice case. It was such a bad situation, that when the medical records of the clinic were subsequently checked prior to trial, it was discovered that other patients had experienced problems with this same clinic; problems that included addiction to medications and overdosing.

Four patients of the clinic that managed to survive their deadly drug regime chose to file a wrongful death and medical malpractice lawsuit against the clinic for over prescribing narcotics to clinic patents and causing addiction, withdrawal and two deaths.

The facts of the claim indicated the nurse practitioners went way overboard in prescribing narcotics and completely ignored the warning signs that two patients were demonstrating; two patients who ultimately died. The other two patients who sought compensation suffered severe addiction and devastating withdrawal symptoms. Evidently, there were also another six overdose deaths in 2007 and 2008.

As a result of a subsequent investigation by the USDEA, staff at the clinic were ordered to forfeit their licenses to prescribe narcotics for two years. The burning question of the day is what will happen to the licenses after the two year period is up? Not many people in Suffolk and Westchester counties would want the three individuals involved in this case to have access to narcotics again after this fiasco.

Medical malpractice comes in many forms and sometimes patients don’t realize what has happened to them.

Continue reading "Pain clinic sued for overprescribing narcotics resulting in two deaths" »

A 54 year old woman has had her life turned upside down as a result of poor medical care. Just five years ago she was an active person who spent time riding horses and playing sports. Now she cannot walk without a cane and gets tired very easily.

As a direct result of the mistakes which were made she is missing a finger and two toes. She also cannot use her right arm at all.

The patient alleges that almost all of her injuries are caused because of medical malpractice and errors. The New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer indicated that she has already had to pay out $200,000 in medical fees to pay for the treatment which caused the problem.

The patient was a very successful business person. With 6 children, she had a very busy and hectic lifestyle. The New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer remarked that she played soccer every week, taught kickboxing, and regularly rode horses. This surgery has made it impossible for her to continue earning money in the same way.

According to the report, the patient was dog sitting her friend’s pets. She noticed that the one dog had a stomach upset and was producing strange stools. After a few days she noticed that she was also suffering from the same symptoms. She thought that this would go away by itself, but visited her doctor when the condition was persisting and she was losing weight.

The doctor did not listen to her properly and she said that there is no way a parasite from the dog could be passed onto a human. The doctor prescribed antibiotics to treat a suspected bacterial infection.

She was also placed on a drug used to thin the blood and a number of diagnostic treatments were used to try and determine where she as bleeding from. She remained taking the blood thinning drug for three months, and then she experienced hematomas – a side effect of the drug. This meant that she was bleeding under the skin.

In 2007 the patient underwent surgery as the doctor believed that the Coumadin did not cause the hematomas, but instead it was due to vacuities. The medical team also used a machine to prevent the blood clotting. This, the patient argues is what put her life in even more danger as they should not be used by someone in her condition. The patient told doctors that something wasn’t right and that it was hurting.

Attorneys in New York City and Queens bring these suits on a consistent basis as this type of malpractice is common.

Her right foot turned blue as a result of the machine that she was strapped to. Her cries for help did not draw any attention. Eventually the doctor noticed that something was wrong. The machine was switched off, but by this time the damage had been done.

The patient was unable to get out of bed for several months and still experiences pain. This means that she needs to walk with a stick all the time.

Continue reading "Woman is suing UVA for Medical Malpractice" »

This is an unusual case and it may yet have another outcome at a later date. Suffice it to say that the court’s decision is being questioned and an appeal will be filed, said the New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.
The plaintiffs in this case lost their suit against the defendant; a case in which the lawsuit alleged that the defendant’s medications made a man kill his wife. This med mal lawsuit was filed by the financial representative of the children in this case and it named a doctor and nurse at a local medical clinic.
The ruling indicated that the children were not patients at the clinic and because they were not patients, they could not file a lawsuit for medical malpractice. In other words, they could not stand in their father’s shoes.
The facts of the case involved a 38-year old man who shot his wife to death in a local parking lot because he was angry at the amount of money she was asking for support. They were separated, as the wife had learned the husband was having an affair. On trial, the man was sentenced to 20 years to life for aggravated murder with no chance of parole for 26 years.
The lawsuit indicated that the defendant nurse had given the man steroids and other drugs without the approval of the supervising doctor. The defendant stated he would not have killed his wife but for the drugs. That aside, said the New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer, when it comes to med mal cases, the defendant must owe a duty to the plaintiff. In this case, the judge said the defendant doctor and nurse did not have a duty to the plaintiff children. The only person that could file a medical malpractice lawsuit would be the man convicted of murder. Doctors and nurses in Suffolk and Westchester Counties must be very careful in administering medications while a patient is being operated on.

Continue reading "Court Dismisses Med Mal Lawsuit for no Doctor/Patient Relationship" »

Medical malpractice happens every day; it's just that most people aren't too concerned with fighting it. Many pensioners try to find a NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer to handle their wife’s death. However, few lawyers would actually want to take this case on because the rewards are not high enough.

But, when someone with more earning potential dies like a doctor, then the wrongful death lawsuit is a real possibility. The doctor died on 23rd April 2010. He was a 35 year old, skilled neurosurgeon. He just got offered a job at a local practice which could see him earning over $2 million per year. This is a huge sum of money, which means his wrongful death is worth a lot of money to any good New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer.

The family of the doctor is currently suing the hospital and the doctors involved in the treatment. Many people believe that doctors look after their own kind, and you might expect that he would of received the very best medical care available. The doctor had been vomiting and had a fever and diarrhea. By 11 PM in the evening he died.

It's thought that the cause of death was sepsis. This is a serious infection which can kill by causing septic shock.

The lawsuit which has been filed alleges that the doctor did not receive the correct treatment for his illness. When the correct treatment was chosen there were several delays which made the condition worse.

The NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer called on two medical experts to assist the case. One was an expert in emergency medicine, and the other an expert in sepsis.

Although the doctor was seriously ill, the emergency doctors did not treat him as such. They did not provide him with the necessary treatment quickly enough.

The level of care was also called into question. The emergency doctors did not check in on the patient nearly as often as they needed to. The ER nurses also neglected to take good care of him. The experts believe that the patient would have been able to survive if he received the right treatment quickly enough.

Continue reading "Doctors Death Lawsuit Could Cost Millions of Dollars" »

A group of prominent NYC Medical Malpractice Lawyers has filed a case on behalf of the spouse of a patient who died after knee surgery. The patient passed away two days after the surgery due to an injury of the brain.

The patient had surgery on his left knee in April 2010 in Northwest Georgia Orthopedic Surgery Center. The entire medical team was made aware that the patient suffered from obstructive sleep apnea. This put him at a higher risk than normal for various complications after the surgery.

The New York Medical Malpractice Lawyers explain that the doctors then decided that the patient was fit enough to return home. It is alleged that the doctors did not correctly administer drugs. He was given Dilaudid even though he was not in any pain when he was submitted.

The nurses helped the patient to get dressed. Then his wife collected him at around 11:30, the timing is important because it is before the drugs he was given actually had time to take effect. The doctors also failed to evaluate his condition before discharging him.

The medical records, which were available, showed that the patient had only spent around 30 minutes in the recovery ward after recovering from the anesthetic. Around 45 minutes after being picked up by his wife and while still on his way home he suffered a fatal heart attack and was admitted to hospital. He died two weeks later.

The New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer handling the case explains that the two drugs administered to manage pain can cause respiratory depression; the risk of this happening is more serious when the patient also suffers from sleep apnea. Normal guidelines suggest that patients with sleep apnea which have this drug should be monitored every three hours, and should only be discharged when there is no risk of their condition deteriorating.

Both the doctor, anesthetist and the hospital where the procedure tool place are all mentioned in the medical malpractice case. All of the defendants have denied any responsibility in the case and the trial is still ongoing. The wrong medication is something which happens in many hospitals, including those in Queens, New York City.

Continue reading "Patient Dies after Routine Surgery " »

A New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer explains that a lawsuit filed for a patient suffering from sleep apnea that was prescribed Percocet and Dilaudid could of lead to his death. The patient was undergoing routine knee replacement surgery and the two drugs were administered. The usage of these drugs should be monitored closely when the patient also has sleep apnea.

The family of the patient has filed a wrongful death lawsuit under the advice of their NY Medical Malpractice Lawyer. The patient suffered from a heart attack while he was traveling to his home. He was transported to hospital but died two days after as a direct result of the heart attack.

The patient underwent the routine surgery in April 2010. The entire medical staff was aware that the patient suffered from sleep apnea and needed specialist care. The surgery was completely successful and the patient was then transferred to the recovery unit for anesthesia, where he seemed to be making a good recovery.

Almost as soon as the patient reached the recovery unit he was discharged again. The doctor authorized his release. Although he was not thought to be in pain, the nurses in the recovery unit administered Dilaudid and Percocet. Anyone with any medical experience should know the risks of using this medication on a patient which has obstructive sleep apnea. The correct procedures were not followed, but doctors discharged him because he seemed ok.

He was helped to get dressed and then his wife collected him at 11:20AM. This meant that he was collected before the drugs had actually had any effect on him. While the patient was checked after having the drugs, no other evaluations were ever conducted by any doctors or nurses. This was a major failing of the health center. If this type of malpractice takes place in The Bronx or Queens, a local attorney should be contacted.

Both of these drugs are used to treat pain. They are known to cause or worsen respiratory depression. This is much more likely in patients which suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. The patients should be monitored for at least 3 hours after receiving the medication and should not be released until after this period.

Continue reading "Routine Knee Surgery Kills Patient" »