Medical Malpractice

Our central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. It controls everything we do: how we think, our ability to remember names, places and events, our ability to solve problems, our ability to learn and our ability to walk, talk, run, work and play.

Since our central nervous system controls everything we do, an injury or damage can have disastrous consequences to the person involved as well as his or her family. Medical mistakes can result in everything from one-sided weakness to paraplegia or quadriplegia; it can cause a person to lose the ability to speak, or remember, or put them into a coma or vegetative state. The injuries can be so horrible that the injured person requires constant help 24 hours per day, every day, for the remainder of his/her life.

Medical malpractice often occurs when a doctor or hospital fails to recognize the signs of a stroke and therefore either fails to treat the patient properly or discharges the patient from their care by saying, “Call or return if your condition gets worse.” By then, it could well be too late. Many times, injuries could be avoided if treatment is started immediately. When dealing with strokes, there is a saying in the medical profession: TIME IS BRAIN. Very simply, that means the longer you wait to treat the condition, more and more damage occurs to the brain until the damage is often irreversible. Good medical practice requires EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND EARLY TREATMENT!! These conditions are emergencies.

Stroke – A stroke occurs when there is an interruption of blood flow to the brain. The brain, as well as the spinal cord, requires constant blood flow to provide oxygen and nourishment for our health and well-being. There are basically three types of strokes:

1) Ischemic Strokes. This is by far the most common type of stroke. It is caused by a clot within an artery that cuts off the blood supply to one or more vessels providing blood to the brain. The clot can be due to various reasons that include atherosclerosis (a build-up of plaque inside an artery that narrows and eventually cuts off the blood flow), or an embolus (usually plaque that breaks off from a different area in the body and travels through the blood stream until it gets stuck in a smaller artery and cuts off the blood supply). There is a short time window to avert disaster – treatment has to begin within three to four hours after the first symptoms start. Symptoms of ischemic stroke may include any of the following: numbness in the face, arm or leg, especially one-sided; sudden confusion or trouble speaking; sudden vision problems; or sudden difficulty walking or dizziness or loss of balance. Proper early treatment is imperative.

2) Hemorrhagic Strokes. While less common than ischemic strokes, it is nevertheless a very dangerous condition. It can be caused by an aneurysm (a weakening of a blood vessel wall that causes what looks like a small bubble or balloon in the vessel). If the aneurysm begins to leak, or bursts, it can cause tremendous damage to the brain. Hemorrhagic strokes can also be caused by a blood vessel within the brain that begins to leak, or it ruptures for no apparent reason. Such an event is called an intracranial bleed. At times a sharp blow to the head can cause bleeding within the brain or around the layers surrounding the brain (subdural hematoma).  Symptoms of hemorrhagic stroke can range from a severe headache with no known cause to unconsciousness. Rapid and proper medical treatment is mandatory.

3) Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA). These are also called “mini strokes.” By definition, a TIA has the signs/symptoms of an ischemic stroke (above), but everything resolves, and the person appears and acts normal again within minutes to hours (the medical definition is a return to normal within 24 hours, but it usually resolves much sooner than that). It has been said that a TIA is a warning signal that you are about to have a stroke. Make no mistake—a TIA is a medical emergency. It must be distinguished from a full stroke. No one should wait and see what happens and treatment is necessary to make certain that a full stroke does not occur. The failure to properly diagnose and treat a TIA can lead to a full stroke with catastrophic consequences. This can occur within days to weeks of the initial TIA.

While the most common strokes involve the brain, as listed above, there are occasions when a stroke can occur to the spinal cord as well. At times, during surgeries for example, blood supply can be slowed or cut off to the spinal cord, or the peripheral nerves of the spinal cord, leading to partial or full paralysis of a limb, two limbs, or all four limbs.

Sanocki Newman & Turret’s attorneys have achieved verdicts and settlements that are related to injuries from a failure to promptly diagnose and treat a stroke, including a $4,700,000.00 settlement for a patient who suffered a stroke after the removal of a tumor in the pleural cavity (chest area) and a $2,870,000.00 verdict for a man who suffered an intracranial bleed that was not surgically treated in a prompt and timely fashion.

If you believe there was an injury as a result of medical malpractice, please contact our firm to discuss your case.

 

 

If there is ever a time in our lives when we are 100% dependent upon a physician for our well-being, and indeed our lives, it is when we are under general anesthesia. General anesthesia, by definition, is a medically induced coma with loss of our protective reflexes. It is carried out to allow medical procedures (like surgery) to be performed that would otherwise be intolerably painful to the patient.

All of our vital functions are under the direction and control of the anesthesiologist. That includes our blood pressure, rate of breathing, the amount of oxygen in our blood stream, heart rate and depth of unconsciousness. Various drugs and/or anesthetic agents are administered to a patient to cause them to become unconscious, to paralyze the muscles, and allow surgery or other medical procedure to take place.

During surgery, the anesthesiologist has equipment that monitors all of the patient’s vital signs. This equipment also has alarms that must be set before the surgery that lets the physician know if the patient is doing well. During surgery and while under anesthesia, there may be a drop in blood pressure, the heart may slow down, the concentration of oxygen dissolved or carried in the blood may drop—all of which must be immediately and properly diagnosed and treated by the anesthesiologist attending the patient. There are myriad drugs and treatments available to an anesthesiologist to counteract these problems. If the doctor fails to act or acts to slowly, horrendous injuries may result including brain damage and death.

There are many occasions of medical malpractice where the anesthesiologist has forgotten to set the alarms on the monitoring equipment or tries to handle multiple patients simultaneously in different operating rooms or did not have the proper drugs available to treat a patient who required immediate counteractive medications.

Indeed, medical malpractice involving anesthesia can occur under many different circumstances. Prior to anesthesia, the anesthesiologist is supposed to get a complete history from the patient and the patient’s medical records to see if the patient may be allergic or have a bad reaction to any of the drugs they will administer. The anesthesiologist must also assess the patient’s overall physical condition to determine how much risk to exists and whether the patient will be able to undergo the surgery with general anesthesia. The anesthesiologist must properly calculate the proper dose of anesthetic to give based upon the patient’s weight, age, type of surgery and duration of surgery. After surgery, the anesthesiologist must be certain that the patient is awake and alert, and not under the influence of any anesthesia before he leaves. A patient can stop breathing if still under the influence of anesthesia even after the operation is over. Failure to carry out any of these steps could be medical malpractice

Beyond all of this, there are occasions when the anesthesiologist mistakenly places an endotracheal tube into the patient’s esophagus instead of the patient’s trachea. This leads to air being directed into the stomach instead of the lungs. There are also times when there is a “traumatic” intubation, causing injury to the traches or throat.

General anesthesia is not the only time that injuries can occur due to malpractice. Patients having spinal anesthesia (epidurals or spinal blocks) may suffer injuries due to mistakes made by the physicians administering the anesthetic. There can be trauma causing foot drop, paralysis or a host of other injuries caused by improper technique.

Sanocki Newman & Turret’s attorneys have achieved verdicts and settlements that are among the largest in New York state for a patient who suffered injuries due to anesthetic malpractice including $18,000,000.00 for a child who suffered neurological damage when, during the course of an endoscopy, she was deprived of oxygen while under anesthesia and $5,000,000.00 for the death of a patient who began suffering complications while under anesthesia, but there was no “crash cart” available to counteract the deterioration in the patient’s condition.

If you believe there was an injury as the result of medical malpractice, please contact our firm to discuss your case

There are many types of surgery and many different approaches to surgery. We are all familiar with traditional surgery where a doctor makes an appropriately sized incision so that the area in question can be exposed. There is now also the availability of laparoscopic surgery, where small holes are made and long thin scopes are used to visualize an area, make cuts and remove tissues or organs. Finally, there is robotic surgery, can be used for prostate surgery, gynecologic surgery, abdominal surgery and some head and neck surgeries.

Medical mistakes involving surgery, generally fall into the following areas, but this list is by no means complete:

• Punctured or lacerated organs or blood vessels;
• Damage to nerves or some part of the central nervous system (brain and/or spinal cord);
• Infections that are not promptly or properly treated;
• Leaving an object inside of a patient’s body that does not belong.

During the course of surgery, it is possible that an organ (like the colon, small intestine, etc.) can be punctured accidently by an instrument, or that a fairly major blood vessel can be accidentally cut or lacerated. These things alone may be a risk of the surgery and not medical malpractice, although in certain instances, depending upon the type of surgery, it is not a risk and would be malpractice. The duty of the surgeon and the operating team is to recognize that an organ has been punctured or a vessel has been cut and to repair it during the operation. Many times, the surgeon and his team are not careful, they do not inspect the operative area for injuries and sew the patient up, sending the patient to the recovery room or discharging them home. Often the patient complains before they are discharged, but their complaints are dismissed as merely post-operative pain.

When a post-surgical patient returns, it is often a life and death situation. If the colon or small bowel was punctured, peritonitis (a dangerous inflammation of the lining of the wall of the abdomen due to infection) has occurred and has continued from the time of surgery until the patient returns. In that instance, another surgery is mandatory to clean out the infection. Often, a colostomy has to be performed with a portion of the bowel removed. Antibiotics are given intravenously because the infection may lead to sepsis, septic shock, organ failure and death. If a blood vessel was damaged, the patient is in danger of internal bleeding that could lead to organ failure, shock and death.

Damage to nerves, including the brain and spinal cord, is also possible during surgery. Neurosurgery is a very important and intricate type of surgery that requires attention to detail and concentration. This is true whether the doctor is performing surgery on the brain for a tumor, an aneurysm, or whether the surgery is being conducted on the spine due to a ruptured or herniated disc, a tumor or other condition. Many injuries to the central nervous system occurring during surgery and as a result of the surgery can be due to:

1. inattention to detail or lack of focus during the surgery;
2. improper technique;
3. incompetence;
4. inexperience of the person doing the surgery;
5. failure to use available monitoring equipment or appropriate safeguards during surgery; or
6. any number of other possible reasons that are too numerous to mention.

When a serious injury occurs to the brain or spinal cord, the results are often devastating. Surgical malpractice cases involving central nervous system injuries have resulted in paralysis, severe intellectual impairment, psychological changes, inability to remember past and/or present events, blindness, coma, vegetative state and/or death.

Infections may occur after a surgery. The mere fact an infection occurs may not be malpractice—infections can happen even with good care. The failure, however, to promptly diagnose and properly treat an infection with correct antibiotics, medicines and/or surgical care may very well be malpractice. While most of us are familiar with mild infections that may turn our skin slightly red and cause minor pain, a serious infection can quickly get out of control, leading to life-threatening conditions or even death. An infection can turn into sepsis – a condition that is life-threatening and affects the organs of the body. Common locations for the primary infection include the lungs, brain, urinary tract, skin and abdominal organs. If sepsis is not aggressively treated, it can further lead to septic shock, multiple organ failure and death.

Leaving an object inside of a patient’s body after surgery that does not belong is unfortunately a part of medical malpractice that still exists to this day. While sponges, lap pads, scissors, clamps, scalpels and other items are all used during surgery, it is imperative that the surgeon and the operating room nurses keep track of what is being used and that every item that should be removed is accounted for before the patient is sewn back up and the operation is complete. There have been many instances where, scissors or sponges or pads, etc. have been left inside a patient after surgery. The patient then suffers pain and/or discomfort without knowing what happened. It is only when an x-ray or other radiographic test is taken that the cause of the problem is discovered. This can be months to years later. Then the patient has to undergo another serious surgery to have the object removed.

Sanocki Newman & Turret’s attorneys have achieved verdicts and settlements that are among the largest in New York state for surgical errors including a $62,000,000.00 verdict for a woman whose bowel was perforated during laparoscopic surgery, but was discharged from the hospital despite complaints of pain and ended up having both legs amputated due to infection, as well as a $3,200,000.00 verdict who was negligently partially blinded during brain surgery to remove a benign tumor.

If you believe there was an injury as a result of medical malpractice, please contact our firm to discuss your case.

Radiology not only encompasses x-rays and films, it also includes MRI’s, CT scans, mammograms, ultrasound, fluoroscopy and more. These tests generally create images of the inside of your body. The images are either stored on film or by using digital imaging on a computer.

These images are usually read, or interpreted, by radiologists who have received training in medical school and thereafter in how to read and interpret the images accurately. This is how a diagnosis is made. A patient’s well-being and sometimes their very life depends upon the radiologist reading the images properly and accurately.

Unfortunately, mistakes do occur. A mammogram may be read by a radiologist as “normal,” when in fact there was information on the image that cancer was present. The woman, believing that everything was normal, would not be concerned until much later, when additional changes occurred in her breast (for example a lump became larger). Now when she returns to her doctor, a diagnosis of cancer is made. Since so much time elapsed from her first mammogram until the diagnosis was made, instead of being a Stage 1 (very favorable for good outcome) she is a Stage III or IV (very unfavorable and at the very least requiring extensive surgery and treatment – possibly death).

Mistakes like this can occur with all types of radiological testing. It can involve tests for lung cancer, bleeding in the brain, blocks in the blood circulation of the brain, broken bones, abdominal disorders, gynecological problems, liver and chest conditions and much, much more.

How are these errors made? There are more reasons that can be listed in one article. Inexperience, incompetence, distractions while reading the films, and more. Another reason is that many times a radiologist sits down with many images from many different patients and simply misses the diagnosis because he/she was not careful, became tired, took a telephone call and forgot to carefully look at the image, etc.

No matter what the reason, a mistake in interpreting the films and making a correct diagnosis when time is of the essence can be devastating to the health and well-being of a patient.

While not technically a “Radiological Error,” mistakes made by pathologists in reading and interpreting tissue slides from biopsies can also lead to catastrophic injuries to, or the death of, a patient as a result of a misdiagnosis of a pathologist

Sanocki Newman & Turret’s attorneys have successfully achieved verdicts and settlements for radiological malpractice including a $3,475,000.00 settlement for the death of a woman who died of metastatic breast cancer when the results of a mammogram were not communicated to her and a $950,000.00 settlement for a biopsy that was misread by a pathologist resulting in a mastectomy that the patient did not need.

If you believe there was an injury as a result of medical malpractice, please contact our firm to discuss your case.

 

Generally, early detection of cancer can save life and prevent suffering and death.  Early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances for successful treatment.  Often signs, symptoms and complaints are not sufficiently heeded by your doctor and are sometimes even ignored.  Symptoms which may be associated with cancer require testing so as to rule out conditions that are most dangerous for your health and wellbeing.  Blood tests, CAT Scans, MRIs, mammograms and biopsies are commonly used by the medical profession to detect cancer. There are instances where doctors fail to order these important tests, and there are also situations where the proper tests are ordered, but the test results are not properly interpreted, and even occasions where the doctor fails to communicate the results of a test to the patient, which contribute to a delay in diagnosis.  Delay in diagnosing cancer can deprive a patient of a more favorable outcome and make the prognosis worse than it would have been had a timely and proper diagnosis been made in the first place..

COMMON TYPES OF CANCER THAT ARE MISDIAGNOSED

Sanocki Newman & Turret’s attorneys have vast experience representing plaintiffs who have been injured or have died as the result of medical malpractice involving failure to diagnose cancer.  Our firm has represented patients in failure to diagnose cancer cases involving:

Breast cancer 

•   Ovarian/cervical cancer 
•   Colon cancer 
•   Lung cancer 
•   Skin cancer
•   Prostate cancer 
•   Thyroid cancer 
•   Uterine cancer 
•   Stomach cancer 
•   Rectal cancer 
•   Bladder cancer 
•   Kidney cancer
•   Non cancerous tumors

Our team of attorneys will assist in reviewing your case.  We obtain your medical records and radiological studies, consult with appropriate medical expert specialists (oncologists, radiologists, surgeons) and evaluate your case to determine how to bring it to a successful conclusion for you and your family.

If you believe that you were not timely diagnosed with a cancerous condition, please contact our firm to discuss your case.

Erb’s palsy is a form of brachial plexus palsy. It is named for one of the doctors who first described this condition, Wilhelm Erb.

The brachial plexus is a network of nerves near the neck that give rise to all the nerves of the arm. These nerves provide movement and feeling to the shoulder, arm, hand, and fingers. Palsy means weakness, and brachial plexus birth palsy causes arm weakness and loss of motion.

These injuries arise most commonly, but not exclusively, when the obstetrician doctor uses excessive force or traction on the baby’s head during delivery. This stretches or actually may sever nerves of the brachial plexus.

“Shoulder dystocia” is the term used to describe the situation during delivery when a baby’s head delivers but the shoulder then becomes stuck behind the mother’s pubic bone. The failure to recognize the signs of this and to handle the situation properly can be devastating for the baby. There are maneuvers specifically designed to deliver the baby safely when shoulder dystocia occurs. None of these maneuvers involve moving the baby’s head at all. If, however, the obstetrician applies lateral traction, a sided to side motion, or pushes the baby’s head downward (towards the floor) when the baby’s shoulder is stuck behind the mother’s pubic bone, the spinal cord nerve roots in the neck can be stretched to the point of rupturing them. The result is an Erb’s palsy, commonly referred to as a brachial plexus palsy, in which the function of the baby’s arm and sometimes the hand can be severely impaired or even paralyzed.

Our team of attorneys with the consultation of physicians, including gynecologists and pediatric neurologists, will assist in reviewing your medical records, and investigating and evaluating your case to determine its merit and the nature and extent of the injuries sustained by your child.  I evaluating the future damages that your child may be entitled to may consult with economists to determine the future financial losses sustained by your child, including lost wages which may exist for the remainder of your child’s work life expectancy.

Sanocki Newman & Turret’s attorneys have achieved verdicts and settlements that are among the largest in New York state for a child suffering from a birth related Erb’s Palsy injury, including a $1,750,000.00 settlement in a medical malpractice case a case for a child who suffered Erb’s Palsy following a negligent delivery by his mother’s obstetrician.

If you believe your child’s birth injury was the result of medical malpractice you and your child may be entitled to monetary compensation for physical and emotional pain and suffering and economic losses.

For help finding out why your child was injured during childbirth call Sanocki Newman & Turret at (212) 962-1190. sntny.com.

Medical malpractice can occur when a doctor or hospital fails to timely diagnose the cause of your signs, symptoms and complaints.  The failure to diagnose your condition can happen when you present to a doctor or hospital for a regular checkup or during an emergency room visit, when presenting for a radiological study, after a biopsy, or even during and following a surgical procedure.

You are entitled to a doctor and/or hospital practicing good and accepted medicine and following good and accepted medical standards.  This means that your health care provider must carefully heed your signs, symptoms and complaints, take a full and complete social and medical history, order appropriate tests and carefully read the results of those tests, examine you carefully to see what there is to be seen, and make a proper diagnosis ruling in or ruling out the likely cause of your condition, and render appropriate care and treatment. 

Patients have the right to expect expert care when going to a hospital or doctor’s office. Patients expect a timely diagnosis of a medical problem along with proper treatment. The failure to diagnose a condition, or the delay in diagnosing a condition can lead to serious permanent injury and even death.

At Sanocki Newman & Turret we have represented clients who have suffered at the hands of health care providers who have failed to timely diagnose their conditions and even failed to advise them that they in fact were suffering from a serious and potentially fatal condition.

If you believe you have been the victim of medical malpractice you may be entitled to monetary compensation for physical and emotional pain and suffering and economic losses.

For help finding out whether you are entitled to monetary compensation call Sanocki Newman & Turret at (212) 962-1190.  sntny.com.

While a baby can certainly be injured during childbirth because of medical malpractice, Sanocki Newman & Turret has handled a number of cases where the mother has been terribly injured through negligence as well. If the doctor does not properly take the size of the fetus into consideration, or he extracts the baby too quickly and with force, a vaginal laceration (tear) may occur to the mother. These tears are categorized into 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th degree lacerations with the higher numbers being more severe. A 4th degree laceration extends from the vagina to the anal sphincter and into the membrane that lines the rectum. Once a serious tear occurs, it must be repaired, usually under anesthesia.

The repair of a 3rd or 4th laceration must be done properly and carefully. Even with a proper repair, a 4th degree laceration may result in fecal incontinence or painful intercourse. If the repair is negligently performed, further problems can result. A poor repair can result in a fistula (small hole) forming. The fistula allows feces in the rectum to enter into the vagina (recto-vaginal fistula). On some occasions, a vesico-vaginal fistula (a hole between the vagina and bladder) may form, allowing urine to enter into the vagina.

Once a fistula forms, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to repair. Attempts to surgically repair it may fail because the tissue has already been compromised and the procedure does not work. Multiple surgeries may be required and at times, radical surgery is employed to repair the fistula.

The radical surgical repair can cause future difficulties with incontinence requiring the use of adult diapers, painful intercourse, and interference with daily activities.

Beyond this, the mother can be injured in other ways through medical malpractice. There can be injury to the uterus or blood vessels. In situations involving an ectopic pregnancy (where the fetus begins to grow in a fallopian tube instead of the uterus) surgery is necessary. A misdiagnosis of that condition can lead to a ruptured fallopian tube, emergency surgery, hemorrhage, infection, infertility and even death. Careless surgery for an ectopic pregnancy has resulted in bowel perforation, injury to arteries or injury to the uterus.

Cases of Note:

$50,000,000.00 Verdict – An obstetrician and his hospital were found to be negligent during the vaginal delivery of her child, a negligent repair of a 4th degree laceration and in permitting a vaginal delivery of her second child the following year despite the fact that she had a recto-vaginal fistula. The plaintiff, a woman in her early 30’s, was pregnant with her first child. Despite the fact the child was large, the obstetrician did not perform a cesarean section and continued to push the child out during a vaginal delivery. The baby was delivered, but the mother suffered a 4th degree laceration (from the vagina through the rectal mucosa) as a result. The obstetrician sewed up the laceration but repaired it in a negligently, so that a small fistula (hole) formed between the vagina and rectum allowing feces to enter into the vagina. Despite the mother’s complaints to the obstetrician about the foul smell from her vagina, he advised her that everything was normal. The following year, the mother became pregnant again. This time she decided to go to a midwife instead of the obstetrician. During this second pregnancy, the midwife examined the mother, determined she indeed had a fistula, and told her to go back to her previous obstetrician. Once again, the obstetrician advised the mother that there was nothing wrong. Three months later, the mother went into labor. At the hospital, her previous obstetrician was on call that day. He examined the plaintiff and again said there was nothing wrong and to proceed with a vaginal delivery. This was again negligent because under those circumstances, with a recto-vaginal fistula, a cesarean section is mandatory. A vaginal delivery was performed that caused the fistula to become larger. Thereafter, over a number of years, the mother underwent 13 surgeries in an attempt to repair the fistula. A radical procedure called a “pull down” procedure was performed on the 13th surgery. This surgery cut out the rectal/vaginal tissue with the hole in it and then the colon is pulled down and attached to the anus. The surgery allowed new tissue to replace the hole, but it left the mother with little control over bowel movements. She must wear adult diapers for the rest of her life as a result of “accidents” with bowel movements and inability to control feces. She has pain during intercourse and always must be near a bathroom to clean herself in case of problems.

$1,500,000.00 Verdict – Obstetrician is found to be negligent in the care and treatment rendered to plaintiff , a 30 year old woman, in the performance and/or delay of a caesarean section at during labor and delivery at the hospital, in unnecessarily deviating from the previously planned cesarean section and subjecting the patient to a long induction in the hopes of a vaginal delivery, in the post-operative management of postpartum hemorrhaging, in failing to implement common modern techniques to conservatively and effectively manage the resulting postpartum hemorrhaging, instead of opting for the drastic measure of a total abdominal hysterectomy, and in failing to obtain an informed consent which caused the plaintiff to suffer excessive postpartum hemorrhaging requiring her to undergo a drastic and otherwise unnecessary hysterectomy with consequential scarring and infertility.

If you believe you have been the victim of medical malpractice you may be entitled to monetary compensation for physical and emotional pain and suffering and economic losses.

For help finding out whether you are entitled to monetary compensation call Sanocki Newman & Turret at (212) 962-1190.  sntny.com