Law Firm Verdicts and Settlements for  Medical Malpractice – Wrongful Death in New York

Medical Malpractice Related to Wrongful Death Results – Failure to Diagnose TB Meningitis in a 9 Year Old Girl Leads to Stroke – Settlement $4,100,000.00

The infant plaintiff, then 9 years old, began experiencing symptoms of meningitis including neck pain, light sensitivity, and fever and was admitted to the hospital. After being diagnosed with viral meningitis by a pediatric infectious disease specialist, the infant was discharged from the hospital but continued to feel ill. She saw her pediatrician repeatedly, who never placed meningitis on her differential diagnosis. She returned to the hospital where the pediatric infectious disease physician declined to see her even after being advised she had returned to the hospital. The infant plaintiff, who was eventually diagnosed with TB meningitis, experienced a massive stroke that left her permanently debilitated.  The matter settled during jury selection.

Experts: Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist, Pediatrician.

Medical Malpractice – Wrongful Death – $1,000,000.00 Settlement

The decedent was a 33-year old woman who died from undiagnosed pulmonary emboli secondary to deep vein thrombosis. She had presented to her general physician complaining of symptoms including extreme shortness of breath and fatigue upon exertion, even as limited as walking across a room, with pain in one calf, symptoms consistent with pulmonary emboli and deep vein thrombosis. The decedent also had several known risk factors for these morbidities, including being slightly overweight and taking Yasmin, a birth control pill. Abnormalities revealed by an electrocardiogram and blood work were also consistent with pulmonary emboli. Notwithstanding the decedent’s symptoms, risk factors and abnormal test results, the doctor’s diagnosis was dizziness and giddiness. One week later, the woman died. Of note, the decedent was a law review editor who had sat for the bar examination just a few weeks before going to her doctor. After her death, her widower received notification from the State Bar Examiners that she had passed the bar. We were prepared to prove that the decedent’s life would have been saved had her condition been timely diagnosed and treated. The case settled during jury selection.

Experts: Pathologist, Internist, Economist

Medical Malpractice/Wrongful Death – Settlement $850,000.00

Failure to use adequate seizure precautions leads to fall from bed.

Wrongful Death/Medical Malpractice – Nursing Home Neglect– Bed Sores-Violations of the Public Health Law – Settlement During Trial $850,000.00

We represented a family whose husband/father was transferred to a nursing home for rehabilitation following open heart surgery.  While still in the hospital before being transferred he started to develop some bed sores.  At the nursing home the bed sores got worse to the point where a surgeon had to be called in.  The surgeon performed a sharp debridement (used a scalpel) which necessarily resulted in some bleeding.  However, the patient was being given Coumadin to thin his blood due to his cardiac condition and neither the nursing home nor the surgeon took any precautions to deal with the bleeding.  Worse still, it was only after the patient was hemorrhaging and his bed sheets had to be changed 3 times in one night that the Coumadin was stopped and the surgeon was called back in.  Again, the surgeon came in, did his procedure, and left the nursing home without dealing with the bleeding that had gone on.  The critically-anemic patient had to be rushed to an emergency room only after being found bleeding three separate times during one night where he was given no treatment until he went into cardiac arrest about 1 hour later.  Belated efforts to resuscitate him failed.

Experts: Pathologist, Geriatrician/Wound Care Specialist, Emergency Medicine Physician

Medical Malpractice/Wrongful Death – Settlement $850,000.00

Action for wrongful death and conscious pain and suffering of 30-year-old woman, married with one child. Decedent’s medical history included end stage renal failure and seizures. The decedent presented at the defendant hospital with severe shortness of breath and other signs and symptoms of acidosis. Blood analysis revealed an extremely low level of anti-seizure medication. No precautions were taken to guard against falls, and decedent was left unattended and unrestrained on a stretcher, at which time she suffered a seizure and fell, striking her head on the floor. Even after she fell, the defendants (hospital and physicians) did not diagnose her worsening condition of fluid overload, with fluid accumulating in her lungs. She went into respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest, and passed away several weeks later.

Experts: Economist, Pathologist.

Medical Malpractice/Wrongful Death – Settlement $450,000.00

The plaintiff’s decedent, then a 73 year old woman, presented to the emergency department of a Long Island hospital with symptoms of weakness, dizziness, and cough. A chest x-ray showed clear evidence of aortic dissection, but the diagnosis was never made until an autopsy was conducted.

Medical Malpractice/Wrongful Death – Failure to Provide Adequate Postoperative Instructions Leads to Pulmonary Embolism Following Surgery – Settlement $300,000.00

The decedent was a 34-year-old man who underwent knee surgery consisting of ACL construction with hamstring autograft. Following surgery, he was provided with inadequate instructions regarding mobility of the leg. While at home, he experienced fatal pulmonary embolism. The decedent had no children and was unmarried.