New York Malpractice & Injury Lawyer Blog

The legal representatives for the family of a woman who died after open heart surgery in 2011 appeared before the Missouri Supreme Court. They are arguing that the state’s cap on how much the survivors of medical malpractice lawsuits can receive is unconstitutional.

If the family prevails in the case, it could mean that another blow has been struck to the state’s medical malpractice laws which cap noneconomic damages that can be collected by families injured in medical malpractice and medical negligence lawsuits. The law, as it stands, does not compensate victims for harm, which include lost wages, medical expenses or other economic damages that result from a case of medical malpractice.

In a personal injury case heard in 2012, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that such caps on noneconomic damages were unconstitutional. The Court said in its ruling that the limits violated the right to a jury trial that had existed under common law when Missouri’s first constitution was adopted in 1820.

A jury in Crawford County has awarded a former Pennsylvania logger and his family $2.2 million in their medical malpractice lawsuit against an area hospital.

The plaintiff, Robert Anthony, 50, and his wife and caretaker, Tina, allege that Titusville Area Hospital didn’t properly examine Robert Anthony after a 500-pound treetop slammed into Anthony’s back in the summer of 2012.

During his examination at the hospital, Anthony claimed he was in too much pain to lie down properly for a complete set of spinal X-rays and the incomplete set didn’t detect the spinal fracture that eventually would paralyze him.

According to Cook County Court documents, Brian Fahey filed a lawsuit on October 19th at the Cook County Circuit Court against Parkview Orthopedic Group, also known as Parkview Musculoskeletal Institute, and Dr. Anis Mekhail.

Fahey alleges that the defendants are responsible for injuries that he suffered during a procedure performed on May 26, 2009 by Dr. Mekhail at Advocate Christ Hospital and Medical Center.

During the spinal operation, Fahey’s colon and rectum were punctured, causing rectosigmoid fistula and a rectocutaneous fistula. As a result, these medical complications caused Fahey, who had initially seen Dr. Mekhail for back pain, to experience respiratory distress, hypoxemia and other medical symptoms.

The family of a man who died after a physician failed to diagnose his liver cancer has been awarded $7 million by a Sussex County Jury.

The malpractice lawsuit brought by the surviving family members of Glenn Garofano Sr. of Hardyston, was filed in Superior Court in Sussex County in 2012. Garofano died in 2011. The lawsuit named Advanced Imaging Associates and Dr. Clifford Barker as defendants in the case.

According to the attorney representing the family, Paul O’Connor, Garofano initially went to his primary care physician in April 2010 with complaints of abdominal pain. The doctor, Steven Braunstein, wanted Garofano’s gallbladder evaluated and ordered an ultrasound.

It’s unfortunate with the high cost of healthcare in this country that healthcare fraud cases are becoming more prevalent, in spite of the government cracking down on the practice more severely than it has in previous years.

Such is the case of the owner of two Brooklyn-based medical clinics, Valentina Kovalienko. Kovalienko entered a guilty plea last week in connection to her involvement in money laundering healthcare fraud scheme that made use of illegal kickback that totaled some $55 million .

Kovalienko has agreed to forfeit over $29 million and she admitted to the court that the money could be traced directly to her criminal behavior. Beginning in 2008 and extending for a period of four years, Kovalienko’s actions resulted in patients receiving cash kickbacks that involved billing of medically unnecessary physical and occupational therapy, diagnostic tests, and office visits that were not performed by licensed professionals.

A federal judge in Sacramento has awarded a 3-year-old girl who suffered a brain injury during her delivery $9.6 million. The judge also awarded the girl’s mother, Micaela Palacio $250,000 in compensation for her emotional distress during her daughter’s delivery.

According to court documents, U.S. District Court Judge John Mendez entered his ruling on October 28th. The lawsuit alleged that the defendant, Dr. Paul Davainis had waited too long to perform a C-section, despite evidence that the baby’s heart rate was worsening and that the mother of the baby would not be able to deliver vaginally.

Because of the delay in delivery of the baby girl that was born at Banner-Lassen Hospital in Susanville, the child will never be able to walk, talk, or care for herself. She cannot see and must be fed through a feeding tube into her stomach and also suffers occasional seizures.

A man has filed a malpractice lawsuit claiming that he had been injured as a result of negligent care and treatment before and after circumcision.

The lawsuit was filed by Corban M. Denny and his wife Deanna Denny on September 11th in Raleigh Circuit Court naming Dr. Ashokkumar V. Bhalodi and Appalachian Regional Healthcare Inc. as plaintiffs, citing medical malpractice.

Court documents state that in April of 2013, Corban Denny sought medical attention at the New River Clinic in Fayetteville with complaints that his foreskin had been red, swollen and itching for more than a week. Denny’s initial diagnosis was balanoposthitis. He was prescribed medication. Once the treatment was completed, Dr. Bhalodi diagnosed Corban Denny with recurrent balanoposthitis and phimosis.

A patient from Cook County has initiated a malpractice lawsuit against his heart surgeon, alleging malpractice arising from his surgery

Cook County Circuit Court records indicate that Arshad Muhammad filed a lawsuit on September 1st naming Swedish Covenant Hospital, Dr. Muhammad A. Saudye and Shifa Cardiology Consultants as defendants in the suit.

The complaint states that on November 26, 2013, after Muhammad was admitted to Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago for a heart attack, Dr. Saudye performed heart surgery on the plaintiff. The surgery included angioplasty, catheterization and the deployment of stents. Muhammad was discharged from Swedish Covenant Hospital on November 28th, just two days later.

Drew Martin went before Wisconsin legislators on Thursday urging them to open the courthouse doors to victims of possible medical error.

“We must create a system of accountability (so) there will be fewer parents sent home with keepsakes like this,” Martin told a small audience, which included his wife, Erin Martin, who sobbed as her husband held up a molding of their deceased baby daughter’s face. Their daughter died just a week after she was born. Martin spoke during a Capitol briefing discussing Wisconsin’s medical malpractice laws.

Senator Nikiya Harris Dodd called the briefing and began circulating a bill that would allow the parents who lose their children, including adult children up to age 27 to sue for medical malpractice in the state.

A former mechanic has been awarded $9.1 million in a jury trial. It was a malpractice suit against his anesthesiologists after he suffered spinal cord damage and paralysis following a 2012 surgery.

Court documents allege that Joseph Lakoskey an anesthesiologist left him dangerously dehydrated before his surgery that was performed at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale in order to repair a perforated bowel.

Lakoskey went to the hospital with flu-like symptoms and received fluids for dehydration. When doctors discovered his injury, they recommended immediate surgery. Lakoskey’s treatment for dehydration was suspended while he was prepped for surgery and anesthesia was begun. This caused his blood pressure to drop and his spinal cord to get blood flow that caused damage and paralysis.