New York Malpractice & Injury Lawyer Blog

Defendants in a malpractice lawsuit, Anderson Hospital and two of its doctors, have denied any liability after a patient alleged they failed  to catch preliminary symptoms that would have predicted an eminent stroke.

The plaintiff, Mike L. Fuller filed suit against Southwestern Illinois Health Facilities Inc., doing business as Anderson Hospital Urgent Care, Dr. Laurence Yung, Dr. Haresh Motwani and Metro East Healthcare Ltd. on May 8th.

In the legal documents filed, the plaintiff alleges that he came under the care of Anderson Hospital and Dr. Yung on May 13, 2013. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants did carelessly and negligently fail to recheck his blood pressure before his being discharged from their care. The plaintiff also alleges that the defendants failed to recommend that he have a follow up appointment.

A former Dallas neurosurgeon that has lost his license to practice medicine in 2013 has been indicted on multiple charges of assault relating to his treatment of patients and is facing prison time. He is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail on a bond of over $600,000.

According to Texas state regulators, the actions of Dr. Christopher Duntsch have led to the deaths of two patients and left other patients with injuries that have left them disabled. Duntsch’s case is what many believe to be one of the worst cases in malpractice law in Texas in recent history.

Indictments filed against Duntsch say that the physician’s hands were equivalent to a deadly weapon because he used them improperly to insert medical devices and screws into patients that were meant to alleviate their nerve and other pain. Instead, Duntsch operated on the wrong area of a patient’s body, damaging nerves and leaving them with chronic pain so severe that in the case of one of his patients, she is dependent on a wheelchair.

Tulane University Hospital and doctors are being sued by a woman who claiming breaches of the standard of care in her husband’s treatment that contributed to his death.

According to court documents, Courtney Boudreaux Strickland has individually and on behalf of her minor children and her deceased husband filed suit against Dr. Benjamin Lee, Dr. Phillip J. Dorsey, Jr. And the University Healthcare System D/B/A Tulane University Hospital and Clinic in the Orleans Parish First Civil District Court.

The plaintiff alleges that her husband was admitted to Thibodaux Regional Medical Center on September14, 2011 and diagnosed with kidney stones. During his diagnostic workup, he was found to have a right adrenal tumor of 5 cm and was referred to Tulane Medical Center. A right adrenalectomy was performed on October 12, 2011 at the facility and her husband was discharged three days later on October15, 2011. Her husband died later that month on October 20, 2011.

Medical negligence, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Every year, the number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed on average now numbers more than 85,000.

In the study conducted by Healthcare Global, an estimated 12,000 people die as a result of having unnecessary surgical procedures, while an additional 7,000 people die as a result of errors in medication.

Such incidents can be reduced and the medical malpractice lawsuits can be avoided by healthcare providers by enacting precautions in several areas.

An Illinois couple from Cook County has filed a malpractice suit against a podiatrist and a healthcare center alleging wrongful treatment.

According to court documents, Jadwiga Opiela and Marian Zak filed their lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court earlier this month against Dr. Vadim Goshko and European Foot and Ankle Surgical Care, alleging negligence.

The complaint alleges that in July 2014, Goshko practiced careless judgment while performing procedure involving a bilateral partial plantar fasciotomy to Opiela’s right foot after Opiela had complained of bilateral heel pain on a previous visit to the center.

A multi-million dollar fraud scheme in Boston has resulted in one woman being convicted of multiple counts of money laundering, conspiracy and healthcare fraud.

According to court documents, Janice Troisi, a clinical director and registered nurse at the home nursing agency has been convicted of a total of 10 counts of healthcare fraud, 7 counts of money laundering, and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud for her involvement for her involvement in the Medicare scheme. Troisi has been sentenced to a 92 month prison term.

Troisi’s co-conspirator in the scheme, registered nurse Michael Galatis, submitted more than $27 million in for medically unnecessary, fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid that spanned over a period of six years. Several physicians and nurses complained stating that patients did not need the home health services, but those complaints went ignored to insure the revenue being billed was consistent. Investigations by the Department of Justice revealed that Troisi and Galatis trained nurses to manipulate Medicare assessment forms. Nearly 1,400 patients were misleadingly documented as having been treated.

A New Jersey pediatrician has been sentenced to 21 months in prison after having fraudulently submitted bills to Medicaid for more than 1,000 wound repair procedures that were never performed.

Dr. Badawy M. Badawy, 52, of Bayonne, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson to Count One of an indictment charging him with health care fraud. Judge Thompson imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.  

Badawy admitted in court that he regularly submitted claims for procedures that were never performed. As a result of his false claims, Badawy received $196,911 in Medicaid payments.

Dr. Katherine Mitchell, the physician who famously blew the whistle on the shameful treatment of Veterans at the Phoenix Veteran’s Administration hospital expressed her disappointment at the lack of progress in improving the situation. Mitchell also said that she would advise new physicians who wanted to join the VA to avoid it.

Dr. Mitchell expressed her views before congress and said that the Veteran’s Administration did not protect her confidentiality as a whistleblower. This lack of protection led to her being reassigned to a different department and subjected her to retaliation by fellow employees.

Charges of malpractice and reports of secret waiting lists have not been addressed according to Mitchell. When the scandal broke a little over a year ago, it launched a nationwide investigation of VA facilities and procedures and led to several hearings before congress in order to address the issues that Mitchell alleged.

Legislators are looking to introduce the idea of a kind of surgical “black box” that would collect data while surgeries are being performed and give an idea of what went wrong if a patient responds poorly to the procedure. The devices can also help doctors avoid mistakes.

Wisconsin lawmaker, Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee), introduced the legislation that would in essence permit patients to opt to have their surgeries recorded both visually and audibly. If the bill passes, patients would be able to opt to have their surgeries recorded on video.

The law would be called ‘Raina’s Law’ named after 19-year old Raina Ferraro who went into cardiac and respiratory arrest during her surgery due to negligent administration of anesthesia. The law would require all operating rooms to be equipped with cameras for recording surgeries.

Allegations of several counts of medical malpractice are being made by the mother of a severely disabled child against a treatment facility that required her son to be rushed to the emergency room.

According to court documents, Sarah Washington has filed a lawsuit both as an individual and on behalf of her son who is currently a minor against Dr. Cassandara D. Youmans, M.D., Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans and Padua House. Washington brought the lawsuit before in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court on May 29th.

Washington’s son , who suffers from Cri-du-chat syndrome and cannot see, walk, or talk, was a resident of Padua House for approximately six years. Washington alleges that her son was doing very well at the home prior to a new administration taking over in October 2012.