Staten Island

Published on: April 1, 2012

No Compensation Agreed in Medical Malpractice Case

by Stephen Bilkis

A man has spent over 21 years in a coma due to mistakes which were made during cosmetic surgery. While the family claims that this is due to medical malpractice, the insurance company has refused to offer any compensation to pay for treatment.

The family hired a Lawyer to handle the case. The lawyer helped the family to file a case against the hospital. The lawsuit is trying to get 1.65 million euros for the family. This amount is considered to be far too high by the insurance company who have declined to offer this much compensation.

The family is not pleased with the outcome of the insurance company’s decision. They are upset by the treatment they have received and feel that they were not treated fairly at the short hearing. The family mentioned that they will continue trying to fight to get compensation for the mistakes which were made.

Published on: March 29, 2012

Child born with cerebral palsy as a result of errors during delivery

by Stephen Bilkis

When it’s time to give birth, the parents are excited and anxious for everything to go well. When they don’t and their child suffers permanent disabilities because of a hypoxic brain injury, a lawsuit usually follows.

In this case, the parents filed a med mal lawsuit against the hospital and the doctor who delivered their baby girl. The claim states that the doctor ruptured membranes in her head and didn’t use the proper resuscitation techniques and then compounded the whole mess by failing to perform a C-section immediately, reported the doctor. As a result of this gruesome series of errors, the baby did not get enough oxygen to her brain and was born with cerebral palsy, unable to hear properly and with learning disabilities.

The parents filed a claim asking the court for compensatory damages for their baby’s suffering, pain, disability, disfigurement and her inability to ever be able to enjoy a normal life, explained the source.

Published on: February 19, 2012

Stillborn baby due to medical malpractice wins award of $1million

by Stephen Bilkis

In the initial case, the jury found for the plaintiff in the amount of $1 million, citing the negligence of the hospital and doctors in the stillborn birth of a baby. The hospital appealed, said the report, and their findings were that it was okay to have amended the original complaint, that negligence was not the direct cause of the baby’s death was not inconsistent or against the evidence, that there was medical malpractice by the hospital, that the doctor did not actually treat the mother and that reducing the damages was not warranted.

The plaintiff alleged that when she went to the hospital in the 32nd week of her pregnancy with abdominal pains that she was not properly assessed or treated. The lack of proper care resulted in the woman having her baby at home without medical help. The baby presented feet first and died of asphyxia due to the head being stuck in the birth canal. The mother’s claim indicated that she suffered terrible emotional pain because of this situation, indicated the source.

Medical malpractice in hospitals is not unusual in Queens and Staten Island. With the amount of traffic they have to deal with there are bound to be mistakes. Sometimes things become so busy and hectic it’s hard to keep things under control. The hospitals try to control things but sometimes it just can’t be done.

Published on: February 13, 2012

Cancer Patient Awarded Compensation for Negligence

by Stephen Bilkis

A 31 year old woman diagnosed with cancer has recently been awarded compensation for medical negligence as indicated by a judge. The suit was filed against NHS healthcare trusts for failing to screen the cancer test successfully. This has been a very high profile case which has drawn attention from all around the world.

The patient alleges that the hospital trusts in Glasgow and Clyde made mistakes when the smear test report was analyzed. She attended regular smear tests, and in 2005 one showed no signs of cancer at any stage. However, in 2008 another smear test was conducted in Geneva which showed the patient was suffering from cervix cancer.

The cervix cancer was at a very advanced stage. This means that the test in 2005 should have shown the early signs of cancer. If it was detected at this stage then the treatment options would have been much less complicated and invasive. The delay in detecting and treating the cancer also exposed the patient to a risk of the cancer spreading; fortunately in this case it doesn’t seem to of happened.

Published on: January 7, 2012

Employee fired after surgery

by Stephen Bilkis

According to a report, a woman who was a former nurse’s assistant filed a lawsuit in Circuit Court against her former employer. The complaint alleged that the woman’s employer fired her when she spoke and criticized a surgery that she did a specific Medical Center. Her claim exceeded $350,000 in medical malpractice and $200,000 in the job firing claim.

An advocate agreed that the woman did have a case. The suit indicated that the woman was not given the follow-up treatment that was necessary for her to recover after the surgery. She underwent excruciating pain and suffering because of the ordeal. She had to go to the emergency room hours after the surgery to have the damage repaired. This resulted in additional pain and suffering.

Her employer warned her that she would be fired if she discussed her experience with anyone else. When she did, she was given a pink slip and lost her job as a result, stated a friend.

Published on: January 4, 2012

Medical Malpractice added to wrongful death case

by Stephen Bilkis

A reporter was quick to point out that a Federal Judge permitted a legal motion to add a medical malpractice claim to one filed against the country Sheriff, the county and other jailers of a wrongful death case.

“The Judge made her ruling and granted permission for changes to the filed complaint,” said a media representative to an advocate .

The defendant’s sister filed a lawsuit against the county Sheriff, the jail nurse and the county for a wrongful death claim. The defendant died at a hospital after he suffered a heart attack in jail where he was incarcerated. The sister of the defendant felt that her brother was misdiagnosed and did not receive the medical care that he should to save his life.

Published on: December 23, 2011

Baby born with spina bifida sue for wrongful birth

by Stephen Bilkis

This lawsuit was brought by a couple whose baby had been born with spina bidifa. There suit alleged that the doctors involved the pre-natal care did not tell the mother what the reason was for a blood test offered to her during her pregnancy. She had no idea the test was to determine the risk of her unborn baby having spina bifida.

When this case went to court, the judge indicated that there was plenty of evidence the father suffered from emotional distress and that both the parents were entitled to damages for this as well, said the judge. Further, the court said that if the mother had known about the results of the test prior to birth, her decision would not have been speculation. Medical malpractice seems to be present here.

A video of the baby at birth shown during the trial was quite telling and spoke for itself about the consequences of the mother not knowing about her child’s disease. In other words, there was no prejudice and the video dealt in facts alone. Based on what the jury saw, the court did not feel that the $5 million award was out of line for economic damages and that the $7 million for non-economic damages was fair, reported the source. Hospitals and doctors in Queens and Staten Island are aware of this case.

Published on: November 26, 2011

Doctor violates standard of medical care resulting in medical malpractice

by Stephen Bilkis

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.

Published on: October 18, 2011

Doctor Operated on Wrong Eye of Young Child

by Stephen Bilkis

A 4 year old requiring eye surgery has recently had the wrong eye operated on due to a mix up at the hospital. It’s not clear whether or not his sight will be permanently damaged.

A surgeon recently operated on the wrong eye of a 4 year old Child, explains a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer. The child may suffer permanent sight problems as a result of this. The surgery was supposed to be a fairly simple procedure, but it was overly complicated due to the confusion.

The doctor who operated on the wrong eye said that she simply made a mistake. According to the court notes read by the investigator the nurse ended up covering up a mark on the eye showing which eye needed surgery.

Published on: September 21, 2011

When Hospital Alarms Are Ignored

by Stephen Bilkis

A stay in the hospital can be an emotional and traumatic experience for most anyone. This is especially true when you or someone you love must be continually monitored due to an illness or injury. A New York Medical Malpractice Attorney also claims that their very lives often depend on the monitoring equipment being fully functional, and on hospital staff paying close attention to any indications that something may be happening that will require their attention to be focused on the patient.

All have learned that the best-case scenario of when an alarm sounds from a medical monitoring device, it may by ignored by medical personnel. There are also cases that have been reported of these life-saving alarms may not be sounded at all. Some recent reports in the investigative media have specified more than a few problems with this life-saving system–Problems that have cost some people their lives, and has forever altered others.

Sources have told a NY Medical Malpractice Attorney that when these alarms are ignored by hospital staff, it may be referred to as “alarm fatigue.” Medical personnel are confronted by as many as 1,000 alarms a day, in some cases. That is an astounding number, and while there are many of the alarms that indicate that a patient is in distress, there are also many more of these alarms that are false. Medical personnel are people too, and people tend to become conditioned or desensitized to external stimuli when that stimulus is persistent in its duration. Just to note that some medical equipment emits constant beeps in addition to alarms, which further adds to this desensitization. Hospitals in Westchester County and Staten Island would do well to study this case and make sure they don’t suffer the same fate.