New York Injury Talk Blog

To be recognized for a ranking that is only given to less than 1% of professionals is a great honor that doesn’t come without years of tireless and committed work. Medical Malpractice Lawyers has included Philip Russotti of the New York personal injury law firm of Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin among the Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice Plaintiff Attorneys in 2012 for New York.

MedicalMalpracticeLawyers.org utilizes a scrupulous 6-point scoring system involving peer reviews and individual medical malpractice trial performance over the last 24 months. Founded upon the principle that the public should be properly informed and educated about medical malpractice litigation in addition to how to most effectively and ethically protect their best interests, Medical Malpractice Lawyers created The Top 1% Trial Counsel for Medical Malpractice rating system. This prestigious rating system contributes to a list of the top 1% of plaintiff attorneys, defense lawyers, and expert witnesses, for medical malpractice litigation on a yearly, state-by-state basis.

In being acknowledged as a leading professional for handling medical malpractice trials in New York, it should come as no surprise that Philip Russotti has obtained groundbreaking medical malpractice case results. A few of his most successful medical malpractice cases have been acclaimed as the largest jury verdict ever in a personal injury trial in Hawaii ($6,125,000) and the largest verdict ever in Putnam County ($6,200,000) for a medical malpractice verdict.

To learn more about the many accomplishments of New York medical malpractice lawyer Philip Russotti and the other outstanding attorneys at Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, please visit http://www.wrslaw.com/ or call (212) 222-4336 for a free consultation about your specific situation.

Heart disease kills more women each year than all types of cancer combined. It also takes the lives of millions of men. For too many people, the first sign of heart disease is a heart attack or other serious heart condition, which can be fatal. February is Heart Health Month, and if you have risk factors for heart disease, it’s important to get a first and even a second opinion from a qualified physician to prevent suffering from a failure to diagnose heart disease, according to the American Heart Association.

Risk factors for heart disease include a family history of heart problems, high blood pressure or cholesterol, smoking, and a sedentary lifestyle. Heart disease can’t be cured, and its early stages are often “silent,” giving you no indication you have the condition. Lifestyle changes, medications, and occasionally even surgery can help keep the condition under control and help you avoid serious injury or illness, such as heart attacks or blood clots. However, taking the steps you may need to control heart disease means you need to know whether you have the condition and how serious it has become.

If you have risk factors for heart disease, it’s important to get a proper diagnosis and a treatment plan. The American Heart Association encourages getting a second opinion if necessary, especially if you know you have several risk factors. When a doctor fails to properly diagnose or treat heart disease, serious injuries can result. At Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, our experienced New York medical malpractice attorneys have the courtroom experience necessary to help you seek the compensation you deserve. For a free phone consultation, call us today at (212) 222-4336.

An increasing number of medical professionals are playing with their cell phones, iPads, and other technological devices while also tending to patients, a situation that might result in dangerous medical mistakes due to inattention, according to a recent article in Information Week.

Recently, The New York Times cited several examples of doctors, nurses, and other professionals using gadgets for personal reasons while tending to patients. In a survey performed by the professional journal Perfusion, over half of medical staff responsible for checking perfusion rates during coronary bypass surgeries who were surveyed admitted to using their cell phones to make or receive calls during surgery. Just under half, 49.2 percent, admitted to sending or receiving text messages during coronary bypass surgeries.

Technological tools like smartphones and iPads can make healthcare workers’ jobs easier and more effective in some ways, such as giving them the ability to carry patient records easily or reference diagnostic scans and other information during treatment or surgery. But personal use of these devices for chatting, shopping, or Web-surfing might actually distract from patient care - and distracted health care professionals can make mistakes that may cause serious harm.

The risks of texting or using apps while doctoring aren’t as obvious as, say, the risks of texting or using apps while driving. But until more is known about health care professionals’ ability to multitask, the wise move is to avoid using these tools for personal reasons and focus on the patient.

At Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, our experienced New York medical malpractice attorneys have the legal resources and courtroom experience to hold any negligent parties accountable for their actions. If you’ve been injured, call us today at (212) 222-4336 for a free and confidential consultation.

The New York Daily News reports that the mother of a man from the Bronx is suing the hospital where her son was being treated for depression, paranoia, and being suicidal. The 30-year-old man was allowed to leave the hospital, despite being a danger to himself, and leapt off a building to his death just days after being released. According to the man’s sister, he went to the hospital because he was very depressed and needed help. He had been previously hospitalized for similar problems. The man admitted to doctors at the hospital that he was hearing voices telling him to jump off a building. Just five days before his release, he told staff that he lacked the will to live and felt nothing. Six days before being allowed to leave, two doctors said that he was a danger to himself and others. After being discharged, the man returned to his grandmother’s apartment where he had been living before being hospitalized and jumped from the roof a few days later.

The lawsuit claims that doctors could have obtained a court order to keep the man in the hospital for his own safety. The family’s lawyer says that the discharge notes in the man’s file said that “the paperwork for retention was not submitted in a timely fashion, resulting in the need to discharge the patient.” The suit also alleges that the hospital failed to register the man under Kendra’s Law, which mandates outpatient psychiatric treatment.

The Bronx medical malpractice lawyers at Wingate, Rusotti & Shapiro, LLP can help families who have suffered due to the negligence of a doctor, physician, or other medical professional or facility. Call our attorneys today at 212-986-7353 to set up an appointment to discuss your situation.

“I’m happy [about the verdict] but I’d give every dime back to walk,” says a Staten Island man who recently won a multimillion-dollar medical malpractice suit. According to a story on silive.com, following a health episode in 2006, the man was taken to the hospital where he required sedation and intubation. His doctors diagnosed him with encephalopathy, meaning brain dysfunction. The man was already suffering from several other health issues before being hospitalized, including obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, and gall stones.

Several days after being admitted to the hospital, the man developed severe bedsores. The bedsores worsened and appeared on more parts of the man’s body, requiring surgery in some cases to remove dead and infected tissue. Over the next year, the man was moved back and forth between the hospital and a nursing home. At one point, during a visit to the hospital for treatment of a bedsore, it was found that the man had developed osteomyelitis, an acute or chronic bone infection, in his right hip. The man’s hip is now dislocated and he must use a wheelchair but he cannot have surgery to repair the hip because of the infection, says his lawyer.

The man sued the hospital, claiming that improper treatment of his bedsores led to the infection and dislocation. The man was awarded $5.4 million dollars by the New York state Supreme Court, 75 percent of which will come from the hospital, which was found partially liable for the man’s injuries.

If you or someone you love has been injured or killed in Staten Island as a result of negligence by a hospital or its staff, the Staten Island medical malpractice attorneys at Wingate, Russotti and Shapiro, LLP can help you. Call today at 212-986-7353 to set up an appointment to speak with our experienced New York hospital negligence lawyers.

There has been extensive debate in New York recently about its medical malpractice insurance crisis, according to The Times Union. Though some studies have shown that implementing certain safety protocols can decrease malpractice premiums, specifically in obstetrics, realists understand that a true solution to the malpractice crisis is not so simple. Many believe tort reform is essential to overcoming the malpractice crisis.

The tort system is intended to compensate and to deter, however it has not accomplished its purpose in New York, especially in obstetric liability cases. The costliest condition in obstetric liability is cerebral palsy. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and general medical opinion have concluded that cerebral palsy is infrequently connected to labor, jurors often award large sums for pain and suffering in instances of slight standard of care deviations. In some areas the risk of New York birth injury litigation is so high that even obstetricians cannot get insured, even if they had never been sued before.

Real tort reform is the only way to ensure that real victims of substandard care receive the compensation they deserve. Compensation now is haphazard, with many children getting no resources regardless of the cause of their disability, and others whose disability is indeterminably linked to doctor negligence being awarded millions of dollars by juries. The children and their families who have truly suffered as the result of substandard obstetric care deserve to be fairly compensated.

If your child suffered an injury as the result of substandard or negligent medical care, the dedicated New York City medical malpractice attorneys of Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, LLP, will investigate every aspect of your case and can advise you on the best course of legal action. Call us today at 1-212-222-4336 to find out more about getting the compensation your child deserves.

The New York Department of Health offers several resources for patients to use when choosing a doctor. By learning about a physician’s education, licensing, background, and complaint history, patients can make choices that help steer them away from the risks of medical malpractice and the serious injuries that can result.

First, New York residents can search the Department of Health’s physician records to find out if the doctor they’re considering has faced disciplinary action. The Office of Professional Medical Responsibility offers a Physician Search feature on its website.

Potential patients can also learn where their doctor went to medical school and whether their doctor is currently licensed to practice in New York by contacting the State Education Department. The Education Department offers a searchable Web site and will also respond to queries by phone or mail. In addition, the New York State Physician Profile database contains information about a doctor’s medical education, whether translators are available at that doctor’s office, and whether any lawsuits have been filed against the doctor.

Although careful research cannot prevent all instances of medical malpractice or other misconduct, knowing a physician’s background before you begin seeing that doctor can help you choose the right health care provider for you. If you or a loved one has been injured during a medical procedure, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced New York medical malpractice lawyers at Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro. We will examine your case carefully and fight to protect your legal rights and options after an injury. To learn more, call 212-986-7353 today to set up a free and confidential consultation.

When a physician or other health care professional fails to use reasonable care to treat a patient, New York law gives the injured patient certain legal rights and options. Along with the choice to file a medical malpractice lawsuit, patients may report physician misconduct to the New York Department of Health.

The New York Department of Health’s Office of Professional Medical Conduct investigates complaints against physicians, physician’s assistants, specialist’s assistants, and residents. Reports must be in writing. They can be filed using the official complaint form, available online, or by sending a letter to:

New York State Department of Health
Office of Professional Medical Conduct
433 River Street, Suite 303
Troy, New York 12180- 2299

In order to preserve patient confidentiality, the Office of Professional Medical Conduct will not accept complaints sent by fax or email.

The Office of Professional Medical Conduct also provides a list of the types of behavior for which patients should file a complaint. These behaviors include being impaired by alcohol or drugs, abandoning a patient who needs immediate medical attention, ordering excessive tests or treatments, or practicing with a suspended or inactive license.

In addition to reporting physician misbehavior to the Department of Health, patients who have been injured while under a doctor’s care may want to consult with an experienced New York medical malpractice attorney. The experienced lawyers at Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro will examine your case carefully and help you protect your legal rights after an injury. For a free and confidential consultation, please don’t hesitate to call Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro today at 212-986-7353.

A 37-year-old single mother of four died after a botched abortion at a clinic in New York City. According to a news report, the doctor performing the abortion severed an artery during the woman's procedure. This medical mistake led to massive bleeding and eventually cardiac arrest. The patient was transported to a nearby hospital where she died. The clinic is apparently under investigation by the New York State Medical Board for this incident.

A number of things can go wrong during or after a surgical procedure. During surgery, a surgeon may operate on the wrong body part or operate on the wrong site of the body. After surgery, the patient may suffer from or even die as the result of an infection caused by substandard post-operative care. Things can go wrong even in procedures that may be perceived as "simple" medical actions. If you have been injured because of a surgeon's error or doctor's negligence, you may be able to file a NY medical malpractice lawsuit against the negligent party.

Continue reading "Woman Suffers Fatal Injuries during Abortion" »

The Associated Press reports that Rhode Island's largest hospital was recently fined $150,000 and ordered to install video cameras in all its operating rooms after surgeons at the hospital performed their fifth wrong-site surgery since 2007. This is Rhode Island Hospital's second fine for wrong-site surgeries. The hospital was also fined $50,000 after its brain surgeons operated on the wrong part of the heads of three patients in 2007. The most recent incident apparently involved a patient who was scheduled to have surgery on two fingers. The surgeon performed both surgeries on the same finger instead.

These incidents show nothing short of a complete breakdown in protocols and procedures at this Rhode Island hospital. The surgical team failed to mark the proper part where the surgery was to take place. The team also did not take the necessary "timeout" to make sure they were operating on the correct body part.

Continue reading "Rhode Island Hospital Fined for Wrong-Site Surgery" »

Medical errors, especially those that involve prescription mistakes, are extremely tragic. They result in unnecessary injuries and sometimes even death. These are injuries and deaths that can be easily prevented by having supervision implemented and strict adherence to rules and regulations. But the reality is that prescription errors occur far too often in New York City hospitals and elsewhere in the United States.

According to a recent news report, a children's hospital has admitted that its doctors wrongfully prescribed a fentanyl pain patch for a 15-year-old autistic boy after a dental procedure. The teenager died in March when the pain patch was given after dental surgery. It proved to be the inappropriate drug and dosage for the boy. Since the boy was autistic and couldn't speak well or tolerate swallowing medicine, the hospital's dentist prescribed a fentanyl patch. Although his mother was concerned about it, doctors and nurses assured her that it would be fine. Well, it was not. That night, the 15-year-old died as a result of a fatal dose of fentanyl.

The boy's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital. Wrongful death lawsuits are usually filed against certain parties when negligence or wrongdoing is involved. In such cases, plaintiffs are not only eligible to seek compensatory damages, but also punitive damages. A number of medical malpractice victims tend to pursue these lawsuits also as a way to try to make sure that something like this never happens again.

Continue reading "Family Filed Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Hospital" »

The family of a woman who died on a hospital floor struggling to get up while staffers ignored her, has settled a New York wrongful death lawsuit against New York City for $2 million, according to this news report in the Insurance Journal. Esmin Green's death was recorded on a hospitals security video. Green, a 49-year-old psychiatric patient, was apparently waiting for 24 hours at the city-owned Kings County Hospital when she collapsed on June 19, 2008. Green was on the floor for nearly an hour without anyone stopping to help her. She died from blood clots.

When you go to any hospital, it is your belief that you would get quality care and attention. However, very often, that does not happen. In many New York medical malpractice cases, negligence or wrongdoing on the part of medical practitioners – be it doctors, nurses, technicians or hospital staff – could result in serious injury or as it happened in this case, death.

In such cases where negligence or wrongdoing causes fatal personal injuries, families of deceased victims are able to file what are known as wrongful death claims. Such claims basically provide compensation to victims of those who have died because of someone else's negligence or wrongful actions. These claims generally compensate victims' families for pain and suffering, medical/funeral expenses, loss or earnings, loss of companionship, and emotional distress. If you have lost a loved one because of someone else's negligence or wrongdoing and would like to pursue your legal rights, please contact New York's skilled wrongful death attorneys at Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro for a free consultation.

The Piedmont Medical Center has been instructed recently by a York County jury to pay damages due to hospital negligence amounting to over $4 million to a South Carolina couple, The Charlotte Observer reported in an article. The couple, Robin and Brice Wilson, had lost their infant daughter during her birth due to a brain injury.

Sierra Wilson had been born in 2003 at the hospital but lack of oxygen caused her to suffer a critical brain injury and she died of complications from cerebral palsy within a few months, the article said. The Wilsons had stated in their lawsuit that the hospital failed to note the child needed emergency intervention because a nurse trainee assigned to the expectant mother misread fetal heart monitoring data. Hospital officials reportedly defended their actions in the care that had been provided to the Wilsons and are now evaluating their legal options.

Unfortunately birth injuries caused by medical negligence are extremely common in the United States. Medical facilities of all types, small, large and well established are all, for a variety of reasons, prone to causing injury accidents and fatalities due to misdiagnoses, failure to diagnose or not taking immediate and corrective measures. It is estimated that in New York alone more than 3% of those admitted to hospitals will be seriously injured because of negligence of some type.

The New York Hospital Negligence Lawyers at Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, L.L.P specialize in assisting victims who believe they have been seriously injured or families who have lost a loved one because of negligence on the part of a medical facility. Our New York Medical Malpractice attorneys are assigned only a specific number of cases so they can focus on best serving our clients. If you’d like to better understand your legal rights and options in your hospital negligence or birth injury case, please contact our office and we’ll be happy to set up a comprehensive initial consultation for you, at no charge.

A woman is filing for medical malpractice in New York against a surgeon who mistakenly left a surgical sponge inside her brain. According to this UPI news report, 84-year-old Mary Pober’s family alleges that she is constantly at risk for serious head injuries since she lost a portion of her skull in a procedure to retrieve the forgotten sponge. The New York woman must wear a helmet forever because of the damage caused by the surgical sponge left in her head.

According to court documents, there is skin, but no bone covering Pober’s brain. So if she fell, that could become a fatal injury, or even a blow to the head could turn out to be fatal. The surgery in question occurred in September 2008 and was performed by Dr. Ron Alterman of Elmhurst Hospital.

Continue reading "New York Medical Malpractice Of Woman Suing Doctor Who Left Surgical Sponge In Her Head" »

The family of an Irish woman, who died after she had a face lift surgery in New York, has sued the plastic surgeon who they say is responsible for the death of 42-year-old Kay Cregan. The woman underwent the surgery performed by plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Even Sachs in his Manhattan Clinic at Central Park South on March 14, 2005, according to this news report. Cregan reportedly died three days later of heart complications in a recovery room at the doctor’s clinic.

Cregan flew from Ireland for the surgery and paid Dr. Sachs $32,000 for the treatment, which included an airport pickup by the doctor, the surgery and two weeks recovery in one of three Manhattan apartments. Cregan reportedly suffered complications the morning after the surgery and died two days later. The lawsuit, which also names the anesthesiologist, is filed by Cregan’s husband alleges negligence, carelessness and gross indifference on the part of the surgeon.

This is apparently not Dr. Sachs’ first medical malpractice lawsuit. In fact, he has been nicknamed “Dr. Botch” because he has been named in 33 malpractice cases in just over a decade. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages for the family’s loss. Cregan is survived by her husband and two young children.

At Wingate, Russotti & Shapiro, we have represented numerous victims of medical malpractice – patients who have suffered injuries or death because of negligence by a doctor, surgeon, anesthesiologist or other licensed healthcare providers. If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of a medical error or medical negligence, please contact our knowledgeable New York Medical Malpractice Attorney immediately to schedule a free consultation.

On Monday September 29, 2008 the associated press reported that two women became sick with meningitis after giving birth at Staten Island University Hospital; fortunately the two babies are healthy.

The city department of Health is investigating the cases. Hospital officials reported to the Staten Island Advance that the women’s spinal cords became infected after giving birth. The women are recovering after being placed in 24 hour isolation. Antibiotics are usually an effective treatment to meningitis which, left untreated, can be fatal.

Meningitis is a medical condition caused by inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The inflammation is usually caused by an infection of the fluids in these protective membranes. Meningitis may develop in response to a number of causes, usually bacteria, viruses and other microbes, but also physical injury, cancer or certain drugs.

Continue reading "Delivering Mothers Become Ill With Meningitis After Birth" »

According to the New York Times, The New York State Department of Health is again investigating Mercy Medical Center. Investigations of Mercy began last year when a woman had a double mastectomy immediately after receiving the news that she had breast cancer. The next day the woman died from complications of her surgery. Unfortunately, according to the State Department of Health, the 30 year-old woman never had cancer. Mercy Hospital’s lab had mixed up the woman’s test results with another woman’s results. Mercy Hospital, through its spokesperson, refused to release the woman’s name. In October of last year the Health Department concluded the investigation in that death by indicating that Mercy had taken proper ‘corrective action’ after the medical malpractice lab mix-up.

Now, the Health Department is investigating Mercy for the deaths of three other patients, and according to the Times this investigation was instigated by one of Mercy’s own doctors. Dr. Anthony Colantonio reported, according to the Times, that a physician’s assistant caused the deaths of three people: a 65 year-old man; a 64 year-old woman; and, a 19 year-old woman when catheters, chest tubes and pacemakers were improperly inserted into those patients.

Claudia Hutton, a spokesperson for the New York Health Department, indicated that the investigation is ongoing and she said it was unclear when the investigation would conclude. The Times further reports that a 1999 review by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences showed that medical errors were responsible for the wrongful deaths of between 44,000 and 98,000 people a year in the United States.

Continue reading "LONG ISLAND’S MERCY HOSPITAL UNDER SCRUTINY AGAIN AFTER THE DEATHS OF SEVERAL PATIENTS" »

STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT FAILS TO WARN PATIENTS FOR OVER THREE YEARS OF POSSIBLE SERIOUS HEALTH HAZARDS AFTER PATIENTS ARE INJECTED WITH SOLUTION FROM CONTAMINATED VIALS

According to the New York Times, the New York state Health Department took 34 months to inform 628 patients that they should be tested for 2 types of hepatitis and HIV that may have infected their bodies when Dr. Harvey S. Finkelstein, an anesthesiologist, injected patients with medicine from contaminated multiple-dose vials. All of the cases involved epidural injections for pain by Dr. Finkelstein. The Times also reported that Dr. Finkelstein’s faulty practice directly caused at least one case of hepatitis C to be transmitted from one of his patients to another. Further, Nassau County health officials said they are now investigating a case of hepatitis B in an effort to establish whether that case of hepatitis is linked to Dr. Finkelstein.

Because of Dr. Harvey S. Finkelstein’s alleged poor infection-control practices, and because of the criticism in the nearly three year delay in notifying patients of possible health hazards, the state health commissioner, Dr. Richard F. Daines, has formulated a series of internal changes that would work to prevent delays in warnings in the future. Dr. Daines has formed a task force that will report to him on a monthly basis. The monthly report will contain such information as:

• All open investigations into doctors’ practices,
• Dr. Daines will request that reports from the various divisions of the Health Department that had not previously coordinated their efforts, now seek to do so
• The Health Department may diligently and aggressively seek to obtain medical records of physicians who are involved in cases where a health hazard is present

Continue reading "STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT FAILS TO WARN PATIENTS OF SERIOUS HEALTH HAZARDS " »

According to a recent article, published in the New York Times, and in response to widely held public concerns about preventable and deadly hospital-acquired infections, The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, began publishing statistics on infections and deaths at its 11 hospitals on September 7th of this year. The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, the nation’s largest public health system, treats 1.3 million patients a year according to the Corporation’s website.

The Times reported that the federal Centers for Disease Control estimated that in any given year 1.7 million patients will get a hospital-acquired infection during their hospital stay. Out of those 1.7 million, 99,000 people, or about 270 per day, will die.

A New York medical malpractice law, requiring hospitals to report specific infections to the State Health Department will result in the State Department issuing hospital report cards in 2009. While mandated infection reporting is only required in a few states. New Jersey’s legislature has passed a bill requiring hospitals to report infections, and that bill is now before the Governor. USA Today reported, that many hospitals have ‘balked’ at requests to provide statistics on hospital-acquired infections.

Simple, and easily implemented steps, like physician and staff members washing their hands between patients, would lessen the opportunity for a hospital acquired infection. But, according to Clean Your Hands’ website, a study reported in Emerging Infectious Diseases in April of this year, compliance with hand-washing is poor.

About.com had several suggestions on how patients can empower themselves when hospitalized. As a patient, you can:
• Insist that anyone who touches you washes and sanitizes their hands. That includes medical personnel, dinner tray delivery people, visitors, even family members. And, according to about.com, just wearing gloves isn't good enough. Gloves may protect the wearer, but not the patient because the infection-causing pathogen may be present on the outside of the gloves.
• Insist that anything you touch is clean. That includes the telephone; the TV remote; the doctor’s stethoscope; bandages and dressing; and, catheters