New Jersey Injury Lawyer Blog

A pregnant woman died in South Florida Baptist Hospital two weeks ago because a nurse gave her an overdose of a common medicine, hospital officials said Wednesday.

Elisha Crews Bryant, 18, was seven months pregnant when she went to the hospital with early labor pains, family members said. A doctor ordered magnesium sulfate, a common treatment to slow early labor.

But the nurse who gave Bryant an IV bag of the drug mistakenly gave her too much, hospital officials said. She got 16 grams when she should have gotten 4, said the family’s attorney, Doug Burnetti.

Bryant began having trouble breathing.
“I knew something wasn’t right,” said Bryant’s husband, Preston Bryant, 21. “I tried to tell them, and they wouldn’t listen.”

(This information was obtained from the Times)

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On May 19, 2006, $14 million was awarded to the Sharad family by a Middlesex County Jury on the grounds of their doctors failing to test them for early signs of thalassemia. Thalassemia is a disorder of the blood which disables the body to produce enough hemoglobin. Obstetrician Maya Sanghavi of South Plainfield neglected to test the mother’s fetus after having diagnosed her with anemia. Today, their young boy needs frequent blood transfusions for the rest of his life. His medical expenseshttp://www.richardconsole.com/lawyer-attorney-1115163.html will be covered Sanghavi in the amount of $6M, along with $4M awarded to each parent.
~Mary P. Gallagher, New Jersey Law Journal

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A Passaic County jury awarded $1.2 million on March 30 to a woman who lost a kidney when a surgeon cut through a renal artery during removal of a urinary tract blockage. Doris Falcon alleged that Dr. Daniel Rice failed to map out her veins and arteries before the June 2002 surgery at General Hospital Center. The severing of the artery cut off blood to her left kidney and caused internal bleeding and extensive scarring.

Last year, the case ended in a no cause but Superior Court Judge Anthony Graziano who presided at both trials, set aside the verdict because he agreed with Konray that jurors may have been misled by a defense graphic during closing. An appeals court upheld that decision. Rice contended that the severed artery was small than normal and that Falcon had previous kidney scarring. Rice also said he was using a new piece of equipment and failed to read instructions that recommended a CAT scan or ultrasound to map out blood vessels.

(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)

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A Bergen County jury on March 30 awarded $1.2 million to a heart-attack victim, finding that proper preventive treatment was not timely given. An angiogram performed on May 9, 2000 showed that Richard Ihde had a 90 percent blockage of this coronary artery. Nevertheless, his doctor released him and told him to come back in eight days for an angioplasty.

Ihde suffered a heart attack that night, which would have been prevented had Dr. Cary Hirsch placed a stent in the artery right away or admitted Ihde to the hospital to do the procedure the next day. Because of the heart attack, Ihde can no longer work at a $50,000 a year job that required him to lift heavy boxes. The jury awarded $180,000 for pain and suffering, $257,000 for past and future income and $200,000 to satisfy a per quod claim.

(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)

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The parents of a girl born with cerebral palsy, allegedly due to oxygen deprivation during birth, accepted a $1.5 million settlement on March 28. During labor at Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth, Bernadette Frew experienced erratic blood pressure and went into cardiac arrest. Her daughter Jessica was deprived of oxygen for about 10 minutes and suffered brain damage. Now 4 and a half years old, she cannot speak or walk.

The suit alleged that nurses Kathryn Gill, Aida Farnaso, and Corazon Tinanan failed to ensure that enough oxygen was provided. The Hackensack couple accepted $1 million last year from carriers for the physician who performed the Caesarean section.

(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)

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Sara Hunt of South Orange was awarded $750,000 from her radiologist on a suit settlement of having failed to diagnose ovarian cancer, which led to the woman’s death. Hunt sought treatment from Dr. Michael Och for an enlarged abdomen. He diagnosed her with benign uterine fibroids after reading a January 2002 ultrasound test and again in June and December.

According to the suit, the ultrasound indicated an enlarged ovary, the June test indicated uterine cancer, and the December test showed that the tumor had doubled in size. Her primary doctor referred her to a gynecologic oncologist who diagnosed Hunt with ovarian cancer in January 2003. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy but died that July at age 43.

Expert testimony stated that the delay in diagnosis reduced Hunt’s chance of a cure from 40 percent to 20 percent. The defense did not argue the negligence, but stated that it made no difference in the outcome. Princeton Insurance paid the settlement of $750,000 to the Estate of Hunt.

(This information was obtained from the New Jersey Law Journal)

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A Passaic County jury awarded $3.69 million in an obstetrics malpractice claim, but the plaintiffs will receive only $45,000 from the trial because a doctor who settled for $1 million was found 90% liable. The parents of Yaritza Parra of Paterson, born July 15, 1993, alleged that the obstetrician, anesthesiologist and two nurses at Barnert Hospital in Passaic failed to respond in a timely manner to fetal distress, and that a one-hour delay in performing a Caesarian section caused the girl's mental retardation.

The obstetrician settled in April for $1 million policy limits. At trial, the plaintiff won $3.69 million on Nov 3. The evidence presented that the chief of anesthesiology failed to prepare for the possibility of a C-section and that the nurses failed to alert superiors to the obstetrician's delay.

The jury, after finding the obstetrician 90 percent liable, apportioned the remaining liability. The defense did not contest the damages and presented evidence that the settling doctor was at fault.
- Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

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On November 4, 2005, a wife of a man that has been in a coma for over 4 years has agreed on a $3.37M settlement from the three doctors who treated him. Having arrived at the Jersey City Medical Center on December 29, 2000, with difficulty breathing and dizziness, Milton Bouhoutsos was taken off the respirator he was on by a fifth year resident and placed on doses of sedatives. Due to this medical malpractice, he fell into a coma on January 1, 2001.

The plaintiff’s argument estimated $5 million in life care treatment as well as damages to his loss of enjoyment of life and for loss of consortium by Chrysoula Bouhoutsos, his wife. $2.375M was awarded to the Bouhoutsos from resident Michelle O’Shea and $500,000 each from attending physicians, David Ford and Phillip Lisagor.
- Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal

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Parents of a 5 year old with a rare genetic disorder accepted $1.6 million on Nov 3 in their suit claiming that a doctor's treatment delay compounded brain damage their daughter suffered as an infant. When Andrew Cohen and Lara Wolf of Westfield saw that their daughter, Olivia, wasn't reaching early developmental milestones five months after she was born in June 2001, they took her to see pediatric neurologist Sandy Waran of Morristown. He tested her for metabolic disorders though he thought she showed signs of cerebral palsy.

Although the results showed she had a severe deficiency of the enzyme arginase, which helps process waste, Waran failed to promptly notify the parents and begin treatment. Nearly five months later, Wolf took Olivia to Dr. Joan Pelligrino, of the Institute for Genetic Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, who looked at the same test results, diagnosed the disorder and began treatment. By then, the deficiency had caused brain damage.
- Lisa Brennan, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

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A surgeon accused of tearing a patient's artery during a diagnostic test settled a malpractice claim for $500,000 on Oct 12. Thelma Smith was undergoing cardiac catheterization to diagnose a circulatory blockage when the catheter broke the wall of the ileac artery, causing internal bleeding. The damage was repaired and Smith's only lasting damage has been numbness in a hand, but she was in a coma for five weeks after the May 22, 2001 incident.

The plaintiff's Essex County suit alleged that surgeon Lawrence Fabrizio of West Orange used too thin a needle to guide the catheter through the artery, causing the catheter to take an erratic path and pierce the wall. The case settled five days before the scheduled start of a trial.
- Henry Gottlieb, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

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An Andover woman who claimed that a delayed Caesarean birth caused her daughter's physical impairments agreed to a $1.5 million settlement on Aug 15. Jane O'Gorman gave birth to Patricia shortly after midnight on Oct 13, 2000 about seven hours after being admitted to St Clare's Hospital in Denville. Fetal monitoring began at about 3 pm.

Her obstetrician/gynecologist, Joseph Maugeri, began administering Pitocin after several hours because her cervix was not dilating as expected. Maugeri continued with the medication for several hours until fetal monitors showed signs of distress. Maugeri took O'Gorman to an operating room at about 12:15am but an anesthesiologist was not available so Maugeri applied a local anesthetic and completed the C-section.

A day after birth, Patricia began having seizures and was diagnosed as having undergone perinatal asphyxia. She suffers from partial paralysis on her right side and loss of fine motor skills and may need a brace on her right leg. O'Gorman sued Maugeri, the hospital and the nurse, Mary Healy, who should have pressed earlier for a C-section.
- Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

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$3M was awarded to a lawyer injured during physical therapy after a rotator-cuff injury on July 29. Jeanne McManus, of Parsippany, suffered permanent injuries to her left shoulder due to inappropriate therapy at a Rehabilitation center in Newark.

He was examined by therapist Bridget Weidemoyer but treated by an unlicensed aid, Yolanda Shepard. She was instructed to engage him in an exercise that caused immediate shearing shoulder pain. After McManus complained of the pain, she told him to continue and never told the therapist of the problem.

McManus ended up needing more surgery to repair the re-tear and was left with a permanent weakness in her deltoid muscle and indentation in her left shoulder.

The third party claim was dismissed and the insurance company’s lawyer stated that “the verdict is so far beyond the reason”.
- Lisa Brennan, New Jersey Law Journal

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Obstetrician Holly Roberts was sued for having failed to act after noticing the fetal heart-rate of the child while the mother was in labor in May 1996. Roberts failed to mention the problem to her relief doctor whom also noticed the depressed heart rate but did not act.

Since they did not do a Caesarian section, child Martin Ogidi Jr. now has cerebral palsy due to their negligence. Ogidi is blind, confined to a wheelchair, and cannot speak or hold up his own head.

The settlement between the doctors’ insurance companies and the Ogidi family was for $8M.
- Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal

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A Mercer County jury awarded $1.95 million on Feb 3 in a suit over a childbirth injury. The suit charged that during delivery at University medical center at Princeton on March 8, 1998, obstetrician Robert Martin used excessive downward force on the baby's head when a shoulder became stuck, resulting in a brachial plexus injury. The child, Kyle Lubeski of Allentown, cannot raise his left arm over his head, has difficulty dressing himself and can't play sports.

The child requires physical therapy, underwent arm surgery and is expected to need more. The jury awarded $1.2 million for pain and suffering, disability and disfigurement, $600,000 for future lost wages and $150,000 for services by parents Karen and Brian Lubeski.
-Charles Toutant, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

Continue reading "$1.95M for Medical Malpractice, birth injury" »

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A woman who claimed her small bowel and uterus were perforated during elective surgery agreed on Jan 3 to accept a $3 million settlement. On Aug 21, 2002 Beverly Askew underwent a hysterectomy and resection of fibroid tumors at Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Stratford. Perforations, detected later, led to septic shock, cardiac arrest, the loss of a kidney and further hospitalization.

Ross says that Askew still suffers pain and psychological stress and as a result is no longer able to work full time in retail furniture sales. Her suit in Camden County named the hospital and Dr. Dipak Delvadia, the latter of whom is an employee of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
- Michael Booth, New Jersey Law Journal

(In the extended entry you will find an example of interrogatory questions and answers for the plaintiff when a claim is filed. Please contact our office at 1-866-778-5500 if you have any questions)

Continue reading "$3M for Medical Malpractice, Surgery" »

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