VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS

 

$19,200,000 jury verdict awarded in the Bronx County Supreme Court on behalf of a 53 year-old male who developed paraplegia due to the defendant not timely diagnosing and treating his spinal abscess which resulted in permanent neurological injury. During the trial we proved that the defendant did not order a MRI of the correct portion of plaintiff's spine. As a result, he suffered permanent damage to his spinal cord causing paralysis that confined plaintiff to a residential facility where he was wheelchair bound. If not for the verdict, providing him with financial independence to provide for his family and his medical needs, plaintiff would have remained in the facility for the rest of his life.

 

$3,100,000 jury verdict in Nassau County Supreme Court against a cardiology group located in Rockville Centre whose negligence caused the wrongful death of a 40 year-old husband and father of two. At trial it was proved that the cardiologist failed to order repeat nuclear stress test despite warning signs that the patient was at risk for a heart attack. The defense argued that further testing was unnecessary since plaintiff had cardiac testing two years earlier. However we proved it was wrong of the defendants to rely upon outdated test results. The recovery obtained was for the financial loss sustained by the widow and their two children which included an amount for each child from the loss of parental care and guidance due to their father's death. 

 

$2,450,000 was awarded by a jury after a four week medical malpractice wrongful death trial in which the defendants failed to diagnose and treat a coronary artery disease in a 48 year-old working husband and father. At trial we proved that even though plaintiff had a medical history that increased his risk for cardiac disease, that very fact put the defendants on notice that regular cardiac testing was required otherwise subtle findings could go undetected. When findings from a stress test showed that plaintiff had blocked coronary arteries, time was of the essence in treating him with medications and surgery yet neither treatment was provided. Months later as the plaintiff unknowingly vacationed with his family on the Cayman Islands, he was overcome by a massive heart attack. After countless medical witnesses testified at trial, we showed that this man's death was preventable if the defendants properly interpreted the stress test and implemented treatment before it was too late. The jury awarded economic damages for the wrongful death to the widow and three children. 

 

$2,200,000 jury verdict in Suffolk County Supreme Court in a medical malpractice case against a primary care physician who failed to refer the plaintiff to a urologist resulting in a delay in diagnosing prostate cancer in a 57 year-old man. Despite abnormal test results and blood in his urine a prostate biopsy was never recommended until the cancer had advanced to an incurable stage. The jury disregarded the defense claim that because defendant was a primary care physician he should not be held to the standards of a urological specialist in diagnosing prostate cancer. Instead we convinced the jury that since the defendant never referred plaintiff to a urologist, but chose to treat him on his own for urological conditions, then defendant should not be held to a lesser standard than a specialist. The plaintiff suffered as he deteriorated for two years before his death. He was survived by his widow and two sons.

$1,300,000 jury verdict obtained after a three week medical malpractice trial in Staten Island, on behalf of a 6 year-old girl who suffered a brachial plexus injury known as Erb's palsy. It was proved that this injury occurred at birth when the nerves of the baby's shoulder were stretched and torn as the defendant obstetrician pulled her from the birth canal using a device known as a vacuum extractor. We successfully opposed the defendant obstetrician's claim that if not delivered within minutes, brain damage or death would have occurred. Instead it was shown that the baby was too high within the birth canal to safely use the vacuum device and that the only safe means of delivery was by cesarean section. We also discovered that the doctor had seven other obstetrical patients that same day which may have affected the care given. The injury has left the infant plaintiff with limited use of her arm and she is likely to require surgery. No offer of settlement was ever made throughout the trial.

 

$1,200,000 jury verdict following a month long trial in Nassau County Supreme Court where the plaintiff, a disabled 66 year-old man, developed a groin hematoma following an uneventful cardiac catheterization and stent placement performed by his attending cardiologists. The right femoral artery  located in the thigh was the access site for placement of the catheter. Within 48 hours of the procedure he returned to the Hospital with excruciating pain in the right leg and groin. A Doppler study revealed a hematoma near the access site. Despite this finding, the defendant cardiologist did not order a surgical or vascular surgical consult so that the hematoma could have been surgically drained. By not draining the hematoma it was allowed to compress the femoral nerve in the leg resulting in permanent damage affecting plaintiff's ability to walk.  

 

$1,000,000 was awarded by a Brooklyn jury in a medical malpractice case in which the defendant radiologist misread a mammogram that allowed breast cancer to go undetected. At trial it was shown that the mammogram film demonstrated suspicious findings that were not reported by the defendant. Had the defendant recognized these findings, it would have resulted in further radiologic testing that would have diagnosed the breast cancer. The delay in diagnosing allowed the cancer to spread resulting in the plaintiff, a 52 year-old woman underwent a radical mastectomy of her breast along with chemotherapy. If diagnosed timely, the plaintiff would have undergone a lumpectomy without the need for chemotherapy.

 

$950,000 jury verdict following a medical malpractice trial in Kings County Supreme Court on behalf of a teenager who developed a subdural empyema which caused a brain injury that effected his ability to regulate impulsive behavior. The damage was due to the defendants failure to recognize the severity of the symptoms and to properly order a CT scan of the brain. At trial the proof showed there were repeated complaints of headache, fever, and confusion which should have prompted more aggressive treatment. Instead, defendant treated him for a sinus infection and prescribed inadequate antibiotics. Likewise it was necessary to convince the jury that the teenager's past history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was not responsible for the impulsive behavior currently exhibited by the plaintiff.