Can you tell us about the Sloan Kettering medical malpractice case where a retractor was left in the patient?
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yeah so my client um he actually had had
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cancer and they had been treating his
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cancer he was doing very well he had
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pancreatic cancer which you know can be
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deadly but the treatments have improved
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recently so they treated him um and they
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felt he was in good enough condition
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that they were going to removed part of
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his pancreas which is a surgery that
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that is used for pancreatic cancer
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and so he underwent the operation the
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operation was
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successful uh they told everybody
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everything went fine there was an x-ray
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taken following the surgery and the
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radiologist uh noted that there appeared
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to be a retractor which was lying next
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to my client on the operating table and
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nobody followed up with it you know they
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do a they do a count of the instruments
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after an operation just to make sure
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they have you know everything that went
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in came out and either they didn’t count
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or they count obviously was inaccurate
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because they left the retractor inside
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of him and the X-ray that showed it
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lying beside him on the table actually
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showed it inside his body nobody caught
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it so he left the hospital um he went
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home he was having you know significant
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pain which you can imagine you know it’s
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sizable retractor you know probably six
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to 8 inches long and um they go back he
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went back to the hospital a few days
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later they did another type of
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exploratory operation and they still
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didn’t recogniz ized that they had left
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this thing inside of him uh so I closed
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him up after the second operation uh he
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goes home he’s from North Carolina he
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went back to North Carolina and you know
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he having just ongoing abdominal pains
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and you know a lot of problems going to
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his doctor down there flies back up to
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New York they do a third operation uh
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about two months after the first one and
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lo and behold they discover then that
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the retractor was left inside during the
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first operation uh unfortunately it had
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migrated to his intestine they closed
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him back up and he went back home to
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North Carolina but he had developed a
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you know sepsis infection throughout his
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whole body from this retractor piercing
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his intestine and he died about a month
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later after going back to North Carolina
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so you know tragic case lovely guy
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wonderful family very intelligent family
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they’re all in the medical profession
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you know nurses and uh Physicians
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assistants so you know Navy people and
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they put their trust in the hospital and
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uh you know the result was a tragic
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result a guy in his early 60s still
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working you know couple uh I think he
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had four children and some grandchildren
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and you know the prime of his life and
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tragic situation it’s a brand new case
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we have filed suit actually the
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hospitals lawyers asked us if we want to
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try to settle the case early because
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obviously this is an indefensible
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case from a malpractice point of view
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it’s just a question of what it’s worth
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so you know talking to the family and
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trying to see if this is something we
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want to resolve early or want to go
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through litigation so it it depends on
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how much they offer to settle the case
Can you tell us about a memorable hysterectomy malpractice case you handled?
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this is a case I had a while
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ago uh another just an outrageous case a
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lady had
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Diverticulitis and she went into well
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she’d been treated you know medically
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and it just didn’t help her so the
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doctor said we’re going to take out a
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piece of your intestine and we’ll do a
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temporary a colostomy you know where you
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have a bag where you you know empty your
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waist into a bag said we we’ll reverse
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it you know after your intestines heal
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up we reverse it after six months this
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lady in her mid-40s she had two kids
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like Teenage Kids wasn’t going to have
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any more children so she was having some
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um vaginal bleeding and so the doctor
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said look you know when we go back and
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repair the uh colostomy and sew your
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intestin together we can do a
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hysterctomy at the same time you know I
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think it would cure your vaginal
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bleeding the problems you’re having with
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your you know reproductive system so six
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months later they go in they do an
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operation they open her up they sew the
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intestine back together they do a
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hysterctomy at the same time and uh in
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the hospital she’s having some unusual
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discharge um from her vagina and she
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tells the doctor and they say no it’s
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just normal post-operative discharge she
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goes home and she takes a mirror and she
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sees that she’s actually defecating
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through her vagina so she goes back to
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see the doctor and and tells him what’s
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going on the doctor takes a CAT scan or
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MRI turns out they sewed her intestine
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to her vagina instead of sewing her
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intestine back together they solded her
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intestines to her vagina so you know
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it’s like I mean what do you call it a
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plumbing mistake it’s just a horrendous
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situation so the doctor looks at her he
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says oh my God I let the I let the
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resident do the do the surgery they were
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able to correct it they you know over
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the course of about a year they did a
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couple operations and reconnected
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everything to the right spot but uh yeah
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that’s pretty dramatic case
Can you tell us about the Brooklyn Hospital emergency room malpractice case you are handling?
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yeah so this was um a a woman went to a
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hospital in Brooklyn and um was having
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severe abdominal pain over a couple days
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and so her daughter her daughter again
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intelligent woman takes her into the
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hospital to the emergency room and they
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sit her on a gurnie in the hallway
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nobody looked at her for about 3 hours
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uh finally the daughter grabs somebody
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she thought was thought was a doctor
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turns out it was a physician’s assistant
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you know they do a a very brief exam um
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they told her they thought she had a
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hernia uh which was causing the problems
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and so they let her sit there for you
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know another six hours before finally a
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doctor looks at her they finally you
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know realize that she’s in extreme Agony
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they take her for a CAT scan which shows
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that she had a perforated intestine and
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she died in the hospital a couple hours
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later again another recent case we filed
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you know this is we just started suit on
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this one and so we haven’t had any
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settlement discussions or anything yet
Misdiagnosis: A common medical error is failing to properly diagnose an illness. Heart attacks and cancer are the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions. Failure to diagnose potentially fatal diseases can have devastating consequences and result in catastrophic injuries. Failure to diagnose cancer is a typical example of misdiagnosis.
Surgical errors: Includes the surgical team leaving a foreign object (tools or sponges) inside the body during surgery, operating on the wrong side or site, or even operating on the wrong patient. Failure to treat: An error occurs when a doctor correctly diagnoses a condition but fails to treat it according to the acceptable standard of care for that condition. Discharging a patient too soon, or failing to provide follow-up care, can worsen conditions and lead to injury. Birth trauma: Many medical malpractice claims are filed against OBGYNs for medical errors during childbirth. Common birth injuries that medical errors could have caused include Erb’s palsy or other nerve damage, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, and cephalohematoma. Prescription drug errors: Physicians make mistakes when prescribing the incorrect medication, dosing, and administering prescription drugs. Other drug errors include prescribing drugs that, when combined, can be harmful to the patient.Every case we take is on a contingency basis. That means unless we win the case, you won’t have to pay any attorney expenses.
112 Madison Avenue #2
New York, New York 10016
212-779-7070
Every case we take is on a contingency basis. That means unless we win the case, you won’t have to pay any attorney expenses.
112 Madison Avenue #2
New York, New York 10016
212-779-7070
