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Yajaira Vivar was born in 2001. He was born with the assistance of an OB/GYN from St. Bamabas Hospital in the Bronx. That’s not too unusual of a story to hear. However, the story here involves a delivery that lasted a short sixty seconds but the child was in danger when the physicians discovered that the labor had resulted in dystocia. This is a simple condition where the mother’s pubic bone traps one of the baby’s shoulders.

Because of the dystocia, the doctors applied pressure and then used two generally accepted procedures, the McRoberts maneuver and a Wood’s corkscrew maneuver. Ultimately the baby suffered an injury of her brachial plexus, which comprises the nerves that move the arms and shoulders. Yajaira suffers from Erb’ palsy which is paralysis of muscles and nerves of an arm. The mother sued the two obstetricians who were handled the delivery. Her case as presented by a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer basically indicated that the physicians failed to properly perform the delivery and thus malpractice was an issue and the doctor’s were deemed liable for these actins.

Once the trial ended in court, New York Medical Malpractice Lawyers indicated that the baby’s injury was caused by extensive stretching of the cervical vertebrae and the brachial plexus. The mother’s obstetrics expert also indicated that extensive pressure would cause such an injury. The jury was informed that only one doctor could be found liable. The hospital indicated that thee two doctors were not employees of the hospital and asked for a dismissal. The hospital’s request was granted and the trial proceeded against the physicians. The physicians indicated that the situation revolving around the child’s birth was a time-sensitive one which called for a quick response. The doctor’s testified and in the end, they provide conflicting accounts of which doctor performed the maneuver.

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A set of twins born was born prematurely due to a massive hemorrhage that their mother sustained while hospitalized. The mother of the twins had suffered from placenta previa, which is an abnormal position of the placenta. In such cases, the placenta can detach causing severe bleeding which demands that premature delivery of the fetus or fetuses occurs. In this situation, the mother was walking to the restroom when the detachment and subsequent hemorrhaging occurred. A New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer can help you if you find yourself in a situation regarding injuries sustained during childbirth.

In this case, when the hospital was faced with a suit by the mother that hospital employees failed to act responsibly, the hospital accepted the responsibility of the action of their employees and the case went to a jury trial. During the trial, a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer claimed that the staff was aware that the mother had been treated for minor instances of uterine bleeding and that she also had uterine bleeding during this particular hospital visit. The basic treatment is to prolong the infant’s time in the womb by immobilizing the mother. This mother had also been given a laxative prior to the massive bleeding that occurred when she tried to walk to the restroom. The lawyers indicated that the staff should not have allowed the mother to get out of bed.

New York Injury Lawyers were met with the defense that the bed rails were up on the bed and that the bleeding was most likely the result of sex, which the mother had prior to entering the hospital. The mother sued for damages past and future pain and suffering that the children may endure. The defense stood strong regarding some of the limitations of the children and that the child does not thoroughly participate in the rehabilitation that she has been prescribed. The jury rendered a decision of approximately twenty-four million dollars to the mother and children noting that the hospital staff departed from the accepted medical standards.

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A woman with a history of heart disease died shortly after undergoing heart surgery; her family believed that the surgeons did not have the credentials to perform the procedure, and that, in addition, did not adequately inform them as to the nature of the procedure. The woman was seventy years old, and had a history of heart disease. She had had two mitral valve surgeries. During one of those surgeries, her mitral valve was replaced with a metal valve. Then, she suffered a stroke. At that point, she was admitted to Maimonides Medical Center. At Maimonides, it was discovered that the woman had a clot on the metal valve. The clot required surgery because it presented a danger of breaking off and blocking an entire blood vessel. At that point, two surgeons were selected to perform the surgery. The woman was transferred to Downstate Medical Center, and the surgeons performed the procedure. The problem was that the surgeons used a new technology, called heartport. (Heartport is used as an alternative to the more traditional aortal clamp.)

The woman never recovered from this final surgery. She never regained consciousness, and died five days later of a severe anoxic injury to her brain. The woman’s family believed that the surgeons did not have the proper credentials to use heartport. They also believed that the surgeons did not explain the heartport technology to them before using it during the procedure. Ultimately, the court found that the surgeons did not disclose the material risks, benefits, and alternatives in a way that a reasonable surgeon under similar circumstances would have disclosed them. Then, the court found that a reasonably prudent family in the position of the woman’s family would not have consented to the surgery if they had been fully informed.

If you or a family member has suffered harm because of a lack of informed consent about a procedure, or because of any other act of medical malpractice, you may need a New York medical malpractice lawyer. The lawyers and Bilkis & Associates are ready to assist you in evaluating your claim, and getting you all of the damages you are entitled to under the law. The firm has offices in the Bronx, as well as Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau and Suffolk counties. For a free consultation with a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer, call us at 1-800-NYNY-LAW (1-800-696-9529).

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A woman who suffered serious injuries after two obstetricians negligently failed to diagnose that she was suffering from postpartum infection prior to her discharge from a hospital after giving birth has recovered damages with the assistance of a New York medical malpractice lawyer. Specifically, the woman gave birth to her second child at the Nathan Littauer Hospital and Nursing Home. One obstetrician, employed by the hospital, was responsible for the delivery of the baby. Another obstetrician, also employed by the hospital, cared for the woman during her hospital stay following the birth.

The day after the woman gave birth, she experienced tachycardia and severe abdominal pain. She also had an elevated white blood count and increased bands of immature white blood cells. She did not show evidence of a fever, but she was taking pain medication that reduced her temperature and masked her fever. The next day, while she was being discharged, she still had the elevated white blood cell count and the increased bands of immature cells, and continued to suffer tachycardia and severe abdominal pain. She was nonetheless discharged. The day after she was discharged, she was readmitted. She was then diagnosed with a virulent Group A streptococcal infection. The infection then spread throughout her internal organs, and ultimately required the surgical removal of her uterus, fallopian tubes and ovaries, as well as other non-surgical treatment.

The doctors claimed that it did not seem necessary to treat the woman for an infection because she did not have a fever or uterine tenderness. However, it was determined that the doctors’ conduct fell below the professional standard of care when they did not recognize that the woman had the symptoms and signs of a postpartum infection, and when they did not try and determine the source and treatment of the infection. It was also determined that if the infection had been diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, it would have been controlled without the necessity of surgery.

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A 33 year old Homemaker Meriem Bouchaara visited her OB/GYN in Manhattans with complaints of a large mass in her breast. Her doctor claimed that it was a cyst and was then referred to a breast surgeon. After the breast surgeon conducted numerous test it he determined that his findings were normal for lactating women and that the results were benign. Bouchaara was than told to return for a follow up in 4 weeks. Bouchaara than returned to the office after she was no longer lactating and a series of test were conducted where no abnormalities were revealed, and was told to return in six months. 2 months later Bouchaara returned to her doctor reporting that her breast has worsened and her doctor than suggested she avoid coffee, chocolate and any other items that contained caffeine. The doctor than advised that if she worsened after two weeks to return to the office. Her condition did not improve in that two week time frame. The condition worsened and she was denied immediate radiological attention because the holidays pending. Two months later she went in for an evaluation that revealed 8 centimeters of microcalcifications, which are tiny specs of mineral that are usually found scattered in the mammary gland, which usually implies that cancer is present. Doctors concluded that she had state-IIB cancer. The client contended a lawsuit against both doctors claiming that they failed to timely diagnose her cancer, constituting medical malpractice. Both parties negotiated $1.5 Million dollars in a pretrial settlement.

Medical Malpractice is when professional negligence is acted or omitted by a health care provider where care provided causes injury or death to a patient. Such negligence includes and is not limited to an error in diagnosis, treatment, or illness management, if the doctors’ actions deviated from accepted standards of practice, and the hospital has improper care or inadequate training, such as problems with medications or sanitation.

If you or someone you know is a victim of Medical Malpractice you need an aggressive New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer by your side. Here, at Stephen Bilkis and Associates we have some of New York’s best Medical Malpractice Lawyers on stand-by ready to help you. Don’t hesitate to look for the help when it’s most necessary.

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A 37 year old dance teacher Marianne Marian gave birth to her 9lb baby at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, NY. Following labor she realized that she could not easily move her legs; a condition that did not get better over time. Marian realized that the delivering doctor failed to properly perform the delivery and that his failures constituted as Medical Malpractice. Her permanent injury resulted due to the doctor’s failure to properly position her legs during labor. It is alleged that the OBGYN hyper-flexed, hyper-abducted and externally rotated Marian’s legs during the second stage of labor. Marian is confined to an assistive walking device. Marian contended that her injuries will prevent her from giving birth vaginally in the future as well as her enjoyment of dancing among other activities.

Such negligence includes and is not limited to a mistake in diagnosis or illness management, or if the doctors’ actions deviated from accepted standards of practice, or if the hospital has poor care or inadequate training, such as problems with medicine or cleanliness.

If you or someone you know is a victim of Medical Malpractice you need an aggressive and experienced New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer by your side. Here, at Stephen Bilkis and Associates we have some of the best New York Medical Malpractice Lawyers on stand-by ready to help you. Don’t hesitate to look for the help when it’s most necessary.

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A woman whose daughter was injured during a Caesarian section has been helped by a New York medical malpractice lawyer. The situation arose when the woman, as she neared the end of her pregnancy, went into labor. She was taken the New York Hospital Center of Queens. She was then connected to a fetal heart monitor. The fetal heart monitor showed that the baby had an abnormally high fetal heart rate. The woman then underwent a pelvic examination, and the examination indicated that a prolonged delivery could be expected. At that point the doctor, who was the mother’s private physician, decided that a Caesarian section needed to be performed. The mother was taken into the operating room, and several attempts were made to administer an epidural. All of these attempts were unsuccessful, so the woman was placed under general anesthesia. Placing her under general anesthesia, however, changed the classification of the Caesarian section from “urgent” to “emergency”. At that point, the procedure was begun. After the initial incision was made, the doctor allowed a third-year medical resident, who was an employee of the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, to make the incision across the mother’s uterus. However, in making the incision, the resident lacerated the baby’s forehead. The procedure continued, and the baby was delivered. After delivery, a plastic surgeon sutured the baby’s laceration. Three years later, the baby still had a scar on her forehead.

At trial, the jury found that the mother’s doctor was liable, in part, for the injuries suffered by the baby. The evidence showed that the resident who lacerated the baby’s forehead was under the doctor’s direct supervision, that the cutting of the mother’s uterus was a departure from good and accepted medical practice, and that the departure was the cause of the baby’s scar.

If you or someone you know has been injured by an act of medical malpractice, you may need a New York medical malpractice lawyer. The lawyers at Stephen Bilkis & Associates have the experience to help you evaluate your case, and assist you in obtaining all of the damages you are entitled to pursuant to New York State law. The firm has offices in Queens, as well as Nassau and Suffolk County, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn. For a free consultation, call us at 1-800-NYNY-LAW (1-800-696-9529).

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A 53 year old Bronx man who suffered paralysis because of an undiagnosed spinal abscess has been successful in his medical malpractice action. The problem began when the man went to the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx with severe pain in his back. Doctors performed a test that showed a large concentration of white blood cells. Over the next several days, doctors performed other tests to try and find the cause of the pain and the concentration of cells. At various points, the doctors thought that the man was suffering from a liver abnormality, and then Guillain-Barre syndrome (an autoimmune disorder that affects the central nervous system). Finally, eleven days after the man first went to the hospital, the doctors ordered that an MRI be performed. The results of the MRI showed that the man had an epidural spinal abscess, which is an abscess in the cervical region of the spine. A neurosurgical procedure was performed to remove the abscess, but the man was left with permanent paralysis of his legs, temporary paralysis of his arms, and incontinence. He is confined to a residential care facility, and will need lifelong medicinal and occupational therapy.

In bringing his case, the man claimed that his abscess could have been diagnosed much earlier by either a CT scan or an MRI, but that neither test was performed in a timely manner. He further claimed that he suffered all of his damages between the time he first came to the hospital and the time the MRI was finally performed, so that the delay in performing the tests was the cause of his damages. He sought recovery for the cost of his future medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering. In addition, his wife sought recovery for loss of services. The jury concluded that the hospital staff deviated from the accepted standard of medical care, that the CT and MRI should have been performed much earlier in the diagnostic process, and that the man had suffered $16,792,000 in damages.

If you or a member of your family has suffered an injury because of a misdiagnosis, or any other act of medical malpractice, you need a New York medical malpractice lawyer. The lawyers at the office of Bilkis & Associates have the experience and skill to evaluate your case and get you the damages that you are entitled to under the law. The firm has offices in the Bronx, as well as Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and Nassau and Suffolk counties. For a free consultation, call us at 1-800-NYNY-LAW (1-800-696-9529).

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A baby injured during childbirth has recovered against the obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN) who performed the delivery. The delivery was done at Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY. As soon as the baby was delivered, it was apparent that she was suffering from weakness in her right arm. The condition turned out to be Erb’s palsy, which is a mild paralysis of the affected area. The mother claimed that the baby’s delivery was complicated by dystocia, a potentially fatal condition that happens when the mother’s pubic bone entraps one of the baby’s shoulders, and that the OB/GYN should have (but did not) detected the condition. If the condition had been detected, it could have been relieved by performing what is known as a McRoberts maneuver, or by the application of what is known as suprapubic pressure. Instead, the OB/GYN exerted too much force in trying to deliver the baby, and this excessive downward pulling caused an injury to the baby’s brachial plexus (an area of nerves that go to the arm and shoulder). In addition, the mother claimed that she suffered from gestational diabetes and other conditions, and that these conditions were known causes of dystocia and having a big baby, all of which should have led the OB/GYN to perform a Caesarean Section that would have prevented any injury to the baby. At present, the baby still suffers from Erb’s palsy in her right arm, has a 25% loss of her right arm’s ability to go into a supine (flat) position, and suffers what is know as a permanent residual alteration of the posture of the arm. A judge found that the delivery deviated from the accepted medical standard, and awarded the baby $800,000 for her past pain and suffering.

If you or a loved one has had a baby who suffered an injury during an injury, you need a New York medical malpractice lawyer. We at Bilkis & Associates can assist you in evaluating your case and with the difficult choices that need to be made so as to get you compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and all other damages that you are entitled to under the law. Bilkis & Associates has offices in Suffolk County and Nassau County, and in Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx. For a free consultation with a New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer, call us at 1-800-NYNY-LAW (1-800-696-9529).

The firm of Stephen Bilkis & Associates and its New York Medical Malpractice Lawyers with convenient locations in the New York Metropolitan Area, including Forest Hills, New York, can be of invaluable assistance to you if you find yourself a victim of medical malpractice. Enduring pain, disfigurement and financial anguish without professional representation is not the path you should choose.

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A woman who was injured after her wrist injury was misdiagnosed has been successful in her medical malpractice case. The problem began when the woman went to her family doctor complaining of pain and swelling of her right wrist. The family doctor suspected that the problem was carpel tunnel syndrome. The doctor ordered nerve conduction studies, and followed a very general and conservative course of treatment. When the nerve conduction studies proved to be normal, and the conservative course of treatment did not relieve the woman’s wrist pain and swelling, the family doctor referred her to an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in musculoskeletal conditions of the wrist and hand. The orthopedic surgeon diagnosed the woman’s condition as Quervain’s disease, which is a condition caused by a compression of the sheath encircling the tendons along the thumb side of the wrist. In turn, this compression creates pain, and diminishes the useful function of the wrist and hand. Initially, the surgeon treated the condition with anti-inflammatory medication and a splint. When this was unsuccessful, the surgeon performed an operation to release the tendon sheath and the tendons; during the operation, the surgeon discovered that the tendons were normal. After this, the woman went back to her family doctor, who referred her to a rheumatologist. The rheumatologist diagnosed the problem as a different condition – reflex sympathetic dystrophy. The woman then brought her case to a New York medical malpractice lawyer for action against the surgeon.

At trial, the jury found that the surgeon departed from good and accepted medical practice by failing to gather and consult the complete set of medical records from the family doctor, by incorrectly diagnosing the condition as Quervain’s disease, and by not doing additional testing after the surgical procedure to release the tendons led to the discovery that the tendons were normal. The jury further found that the surgeon’s actions delayed the rheumatologist in making the correct diagnoses, and that as a result of this delay the reflex sympathetic dystrophy could not be effectively treated. The jury awarded the woman $2,500,000.00.

If you or someone you know ahs been injured by a misdiagnoses or by an unnecessary surgical procedure, then you need a New York medical malpractice lawyer. The lawyers at Bilkis & Associates have the experience to help you with problems of misdiagnosis, unnecessary surgery, and all other medical malpractice problems. For a free consultation, call us at 1-800-NYNY-LAW (1-800-696-9529).

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