Goldsmith & Goldsmith, LLP | Contents of this website may contain attorney advertising | Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances
Goldsmith & Goldsmith, LLP | Contents of this website may contain attorney advertising | Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances
Goldsmith & Goldsmith, LLP
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Medical Malpractice
Attorneys And Trained Medical
Professionals

Trust our firm to deliver exceptional client service no matter how complex your medical malpractice case is.

Medical Malpractice
Attorneys And Trained
Medical
Professionals

Trust our firm to deliver exceptional client service no matter how complex your medical malpractice case is.

Case Results

 

Over $100 Million Recovered For Our Clients

Over 30 million in settlements for a group of patients undergoing unnecessary surgery

Contacted by clients from over 40 states and after an exhaustive investigation two physicians were sued for performing multiple unnecessary and unindicated surgical procedures. The litigation beginning in 2009 and lasting until 2015. The attorneys became experts into the complexities of neurosurgical procedures, Chiari malformations and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Every case brought on behalf of the patients was settled in a unique litigation.


$6.1 million settlement for client injured in spinal surgery

The client underwent spinal surgery for purposes of determining whether a malignant tumor existed in the spinal cord. No tumor was found, but during the course of the surgery, the surgeon inappropriately removed normal functioning tissue that resulted in the client being left with no sensory input from either her upper or lower extremities to her brain. The devastating effect of this malpractice is that the client will never feel anything below her neck again.


$4.6 million medical malpractice settlement for failing to timely diagnose retinopathy of prematurity in an infant, resulting in complete, bilateral blindness

This case involved allegations concerning the failure of the defendants to timely order a screening examination for retinopathy of prematurity for the child four to six weeks after birth, resulting in complete, bilateral blindness. It was our position that a timely eye examination by an ophthalmologist would have permitted the child to receive timely laser surgery in both eyes that would have provided her with a 75 percent chance of having sight in both eyes. The defendants put up a fight, but ultimately were forced to settle.

$4.5 million confidential settlement on behalf of a brain-damaged infant

Plaintiffs settled with several New York physicians on behalf of a brain-damaged infant and his mother. The child was severely injured at birth when his mother’s doctors failed to properly monitor the progress of her labor. The doctors failed to recognize that a cesarean section was necessary and as such caused the baby to suffer oxygen deprivation. As a result, our infant client was brain-damaged and suffers from cerebral palsy and spastic quadraplegia.


$3.4 million settlement

Medical malpractice and drug injury following a spinal injection

A 45 year old Chiropractor was paralyzed following an injection of disc dissolving materials incorrectly into his spine. The suit was initiated in a rural county and taken over when the client realized that the original attorneys were incapable of handling a suit of the size and complexity that a combined pharmaceutical and medical malpractice suit demanded. The original offer to settle the matter was $1 million.


$ 3.3 million medical malpractice settlement involving ventriculoperitoneal shunt malfunction

This was a medical malpractice action involving pediatric neurology and pediatric neurosurgery. The infant plaintiff was born with spina bifida and an accompanying Arnold-Chiari malformation of the spine and accompanying paraplegia and hydrocephalus, among other less significant problems. Soon after birth, the child underwent surgery for the placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. This shunt served to stabilize his hydrocephalus, a condition which, if left uncontrolled, would lead to severe brain damage or death. Even with the shunt in place and functioning, the child still had significant disabilities, including confinement to a wheelchair, bowel and bladder incontinence, brittle bones and some degree of learning disability.


$3 million settlement for pedestrian run over by a bus

Our 59-year-old female client was hit and run over by a bus as she was crossing Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. She was struck by the defendant bus driver who made an illegal left turn from Atlantic Avenue onto Flatbush. The bus driver completely ignored the sign indicating that left turns were not allowed at that intersection. She was then dragged down beneath the front wheel. Our client was emergently transported to a nearby hospital, where she endured weeks of debridements and surgeries. She suffered severe injuries to her left leg. Upon leaving the hospital, our client underwent several months of rehabilitation. To this day, she continues to have difficulty walking and her leg still appears mangled. She has been unable to return to her job.


$2.4 million settlement

Failure on the part of the defendants to properly manage an infant’s anemia led to brain damage.

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$2.34 million settlement for medical malpractice; plaintiff v. two unnamed internists, three unnamed emergency room physicians, one orthopedist and one radiologist

The plaintiff alleged that due to the negligence of seven physicians who treated her over the course of 66 days, an epidural abscess was not diagnosed at level T5 in her spine, leaving her a paraparetic.


$2 million medical malpractice settlement for failure to appropriately interpret ultrasound

The infant was found to have multiple congenital anomalies. A sonogram taken during the pregnancy at 22 weeks was read as normal by the defendant radiologist when in fact, two significant abnormalities were apparent on this ultrasound:

  1. No fluid was seen in the fetal stomach during the examination.
  2. The fetal head was abnormally small.

It was plaintiffs’ position that the defendant radiologist deviated from the accepted standards of medical practice as a radiologist interpreting the obstetrical sonogram in that he failed to diagnose either of the two abnormalities, both of which are highly significant. The absence of fluid in the fetal stomach indicates either esophageal atresia or a neurological abnormality that prevents the fetus from swallowing normally. Small fetal head size puts the fetus at risk for mental disability. If the defendant radiologist had made the correct diagnoses on the sonogram, the mother and father would have had the option of aborting the pregnancy. The child, now 7, is mentally disabled and has a feeding tube as well as a tracheostomy. The child is wheelchair-bound and requires full-time care.


$1.98 million settlement for wrongful life of child failure to properly perform and interpret sonogram

Mother of child had amniocentesis performed by her obstetrician due to advanced maternal age. A sonographer served as the ultrasound technician at the obstetrician’s offices. Videotapes were maintained of the sonogram. The ultrasound was improperly performed and not interpreted appropriately by either the sonographer or the obstetrician. As a result, the child’s parents were not informed of the fetal abnormalities and were not given the appropriate option of an abortion. The parents would have chosen the abortion knowing the physical abnormalities of the child. The child, now 5, will require care and be dependent upon others for life. The child was born with a midline facial defect, misplacement of the location of the eyes and nose, and abnormalities of the lower extremities. The child has limited cognitive and communicative skills.


$1.8 million for failure to timely diagnose our client’s Ewing’s sarcoma

Plaintiff settled with various New York physicians who failed to timely diagnose our client’s Ewing’s sarcoma, a bone cancer that appeared in his femur. The most common areas in which Ewing’s sarcoma occurs are the pelvis, femur, humerus and ribs. Our client complained over a period of months about leg pain that was not properly addressed. A CT scan of the patient’s femur was misread. During the delay, the bone cancer grew and spread to his lungs and other portions of his body.


$1.75 million settlement for failing to appropriately interpret ultrasound and diagnose holoprosencephaly

Because of concerns regarding the infant plaintiff’s development, his pediatricians ordered an MRI of the brain. Following this imaging study, the interpreting neuroradiologist indicated that the MRI examination demonstrated findings characteristic of holoprosencephaly.

It was the plaintiffs’ contention that, had the ultrasound images of the sonogram, taken at a gestational age of approximately 16.5 weeks, been appropriately taken and interpreted, the holoprosencephaly would have been detected, the significantly poor prognosis with respect to mental function would have been explained to the parents, and they would have had the option of aborting the pregnancy.

The ultrasound images at a gestational age of approximately 16.5 weeks demonstrated two images of an abnormality involving the fetal brain. Specifically, the images demonstrated an abnormal configuration of the choroid plexus and lateral ventricles. In particular, the left and right choroids plexes appeared to fuse in the midline within the lateral ventricles that also appeared to fuse in the midline. These images indicate midline fusion abnormality affecting the fetal brain consistent with the diagnosis of holoprosencephaly. The office notes from the prenatal visit record nothing concerning this abnormal ultrasound finding, indicating that neither the technologist who obtained the images nor the physician who interpreted the images observed the abnormal ultrasound finding.

Since birth, the plaintiff has had significant developmental concerns. He cannot speak any words, he is not toilet-trained and he is not able to communicate his needs. He is not stable in a sitting position and is not able to sit up independently. He is a 6-year-old boy with permanent neurological disabilities who has had no meaningful development.


$1.65 million settlement for failure to appropriately interpret sonogram

It was the position of the plaintiffs that failure to maintain the sonogram images and documentation were deviations from the accepted standards of care which. Had the sonogram been read correctly, it would have shown severe abnormalities.


$1.6 million settlement: medical malpractice by an anesthesiologist for improperly administering a neurolytic block of the celiac plexus, causing paralysis

The plaintiff was paralyzed at level T-10 during an attempted neurolytic block of the celiac plexus. Her paralysis is permanent as a section of her spinal cord was permanently damaged by the alcohol meant to destroy her celiac plexus.


$1.5 million medical malpractice settlement for failing to timely diagnose retinopathy prematurity in an infant, resulting in complete bilateral blindness

The defendants committed malpractice by failing to timely order a screening examination for retinopathy prematurity for a premature infant in the neonatal intensive care unit four to six weeks after the child, was born resulting in complete bilateral blindness.


$1.5 million award for death of a 66-year-old man after surgery for rectal cancer

Decedent, a 66-year-old retiree, presented to defendants for the removal of a low-lying rectal carcinoma and he underwent an anastomosis of the bowel. The anastomosis ruptured eight days after surgery, spilling fecal material into decedent’s abdomen and out the surgical wound. Plaintiff claimed that defendants failed to intervene surgically in this emergency. The emergency repair surgery was delayed for 16 hours. Decedent developed peritonitis and sepsis and remained in the hospital for eight months until his death.


$1,495,000 settlement for wrongful life

Infant plaintiff was born with spina bifida, secondary ventriculomegaly and an Arnold-Chiari malformation. His parents, instituted a wrongful life action against their treating obstetrician and the sonographer and sonography company.


$1.25 million settlement for RSD/neurological injury to right arm and shoulder

The plaintiff was injured when she entered a drugstore and was struck on her right shoulder and right side of her body by a malfunctioning electronic entrance door. She was pinned at the shoulder against the wall and subsequently required surgery for a shoulder impingement. She then developed reflex sympathetic dystrophy of the right upper extremity, requiring numerous stellate ganglion blocks in her neck to help her cope with the pain. She also suffered injury to her right wrist consistent with carpal tunnel syndrome and underwent surgery for the right carpal tunnel release. Her injuries and disabilities are permanent. She cannot work because of the condition of her right arm and right hand. She has two children for whom she is responsible as a single mother and does not take pain medication to be alert to their needs. She will suffer with pain and disability indefinitely.


$1 million settlement for brain/neurological injuries suffered by a 17-year-old in an automobile accident

The plaintiff was a passenger involved in a two vehicle accident. She was hospitalized in a coma for several weeks and then required transfer to Children’s Specialized Hospital. She has received outpatient treatment for rehabilitation at Kessler and other facilities. She presently lives with family and functions independently.


$1 million settlement for undiagnosed heart infection

Decedent died due to complications relating to a bacterial infection of the heart called endocarditis. She was 32. She died five months after giving birth to her only child. She was misdiagnosed as having sinusitis. The defendant doctor found and recorded data relating to a heart murmur at the time of her child’s birth, but did not follow up on that finding. The decedent also showed symptoms of fatigue, fever, rash and urinary tract infection at the time of her child’s birth.

A structured settlement was reached on the eve of trial with a guaranteed payment of $4.7 million.


$1 million settlement—Medical genetics.

A 65 year old woman was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. This cancer is uniformly fatal. Her gynecologist was sued for failing to take into account her genetic family history of both a mother and a sister having and dying from cancer and having her ovaries removed prior to her developing cancer.


$900,000 settlement

Failure to timely diagnose and properly treat plaintiff’s heart condition, which subsequently resulted in his death.


$860,000 verdict

Failure to timely diagnose a dissecting aorta which subsequently resulted in death.


$875,000 medical malpractice settlement for Erb’s Palsy injury

The infant plaintiff was found to have significant right brachial plexus injury. The defendant obstetrician at the time of the delivery did not document any standard maneuvers that were employed to release the impacted shoulder in the pelvis. A surgical procedure was performed on the infant nine months after birth and when the surgeon explored the brachial plexus, a significant traumatic neuroma of the upper trunk was found, which confirmed plaintiffs’ theory of the traction injury to the brachial plexus. The infant plaintiff will be left with a permanent impairment of the right upper extremity function as well as persistent abnormal posturing and a possible limb length discrepancy.


$850,000 settlement for wrongful death for negligent administration of anesthesia in an unlicensed surgery center in Passaic County, New Jersey

This lawsuit was filed in North Jersey, New Jersey, for the widow and two adult daughters of a 50-year-old taxicab driver who went to an unlicensed, one-room surgery center in Passaic County, New Jersey, to have a procedure performed on his prostate for benign prostatic hypertrophy.


$800,000 settlement for the pain and suffering of an 83-year-old woman – failure to monitor hemoglobin during surgery, causing anoxia and brain damage

Plaintiff broke her hip and during hip replacement surgery had a dramatic fall in her hemoglobin, which went undetected by her anesthesiologist. As a result, she suffered from a lack of oxygen to her brain, which left her in a coma for several days. The hypoxic event caused her to suffer brain damage, which made it impossible for her to continue living independently as she had been prior to this surgery. She became confined to a nursing home and requires assistance with all aspects of daily living. She becomes easily confused and lacks her prior mental acuity. The plaintiff is aware of the decline in her mental and physical condition and suffers from depression.


$800,000 settlement for automobile injury case

Plaintiff suffered injury to her left facial nerve due to the clear negligence of the driver of another vehicle. Plaintiff was driving a friend’s car when defendant driving a Ford pick-up swerved into the opposite lane of traffic and struck the vehicle she was driving.

Plaintiff underwent a surgical procedure, called left temporalis transfer and suspension of the left eyebrow, which moved muscle from the top portion of her head into her left cheek area in order for her to regain some function on the left side of her face. Despite the surgery, her smile remains unbalanced. Plaintiff, thankfully, is fully functional, a senior in college with plans for a doctorate degree. She also has occasional tearing of the left eye and loss of sound of high pitches in the left ear.


$800,000 settlement for failure to diagnose splenic artery aneurysm

This was an action pending in the EDNC Federal Court brought pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act under California Law for capped pain and suffering of $250,000 under California’s MICRA Law. Plaintiff was nine months pregnant when she experienced severe abdominal pain and was taken to Balboa Naval Hospital. She was diagnosed as having a possible rupture of the uterus and or placental abruption. She was taken to the delivery room, where via a bikini cut incision a healthy baby was born. Upon entry into the uterus to deliver the child, 1500 CCs of blood were found by the resident obstetrician. Through the bikini cut, an exploration of the uterus and lower abdomen was carried out and then an exploration of the upper abdomen was carried out. The source of the bleeding was not found and rather than convert the procedure to an open exploration and determine the source of the bleeding, the doctor closed and the patient was sent to the recovery room for observation. Within 45 minutes of arrival in recovery, she coded and bled out. She was taken back to the delivery room, where an emergency exploration was carried out and the source of the bleeding was identified: a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm. Her spleen and a portion of the pancreas was removed. To control the bleeding, an emergency thoracotomy was performed. As a result of the thoracotomy, the plaintiff suffers from post-thoracotomy pain syndrome and is disabled from work.


$725,000 settlement for the failure to properly manage a high-risk pregnancy

Settlement: $725,000 present value with guaranteed payout of $2 million for the failure to properly manage a high risk pregnancy at a United States Air Force hospital resulting in the premature birth of a 24-week gestation resulting in a child who suffers from Cerebral Palsy and Blindness from Retinopathy of Prematurity. Mother went into premature labor at hospital A on a Friday. Was kept in that institution until Monday when she was air-evacuated to hospital B. At hospital B, she was placed on complete bed rest for the first 48 hours and then encouraged to ambulate. After beginning ambulation, she went back into premature labor and delivered her daughter at 24 weeks. Standard of care required complete bed rest with Trendelenburg position. Hospital and doctors departed from standard of care. Case was settled for $725,000 T-Bill Trust with expected yield of $2 million for the child’s lifetime. More info reference GVU in e-mail.


$700,000 medical malpractice settlement for failing to recognize cardiac abnormalities

The deceased plaintiff, a woman died due to the negligence of an Emergency Room physician in failing to recognize an abnormal ECG and admit her to a hospital for immediate cardiac evaluation.


$700,000 settlement for negligent dye-study test for intrathecal pain pump manufactured by Codman & Shurtleff

Plaintiff’s case was settled for $700,000.00 a claim for a 73 year-old man and his wife relative to the negligent performance of a dye study.


$675,000 settlement for methotrexate overdose

Plaintiff was given an inappropriate amount of methotrexate.


Settlement for $625,000 for wrongful death as a result of medical malpractice from negligent incisional hernia repair surgery leading to bowel perforation, sepsis and death

The case involved the 60-year-old married father of two adult children who went in to Jersey City Medical Center for surgery to repair an incisional hernia. During the procedure, the surgeon poked at least two holes into the colon and apparently did not realize that he had injured the bowel or did not check. The surgery was completed and the patient was sent home for two days. On the third day, the patient returned in terrible pain, short of breath and with an increased heart rate. It took 24 hours to determine that the patient actually had peritonitis and perforations in two different areas of the colon.

The patient lasted in this condition for thirteen months never returning home from the hospital before he finally succumbed to his injuries. He had terrible pain and suffering in the hospital for 13 months before he died.

$625,000 settlement

Defendant committed negligence during the course of plaintiff’s back surgery leaving her with difficultly in her ability to walk.


$600,000 settlement for nursing home malpractice

The case, which settled for $600,000 before trial, involved a 98-year-old woman with dementia who was wheelchair-bound and was an in-patient in the long term care section of North Jersey, New Jersey.


$575,000 settlement for pain, suffering and wrongful death of a 65-year-old woman – failure to diagnose cardiac tamponade, causing cardiac arrest and brain damage

Plaintiff underwent an angioplasty procedure and thereafter suffered from a cardiac tamponade which went undetected by her treating cardiologists despite multiple complaints and symptoms. As a result of the undetected and untreated cardiac tamponade, she suffered cardiac arrest and neurological damage, which caused her to remain in a comatose state for approximately three years prior to her ultimate death.


$570,000 settlement for tubing accident at a skiing facility: fracture/dislocation of back at T11-T12

The plaintiff, then 16 years old, sustained a back injury while tubing at a skiing facility.


$550,000 settlement for failing to recognize widened mediastinum and aortic dissection

The deceased plaintiff died due to the negligence of physicians treating him for the symptoms of nausea, vomiting, chest pain, abdominal pain, left leg pain, numbness, and left leg ischemia secondary to an acute Type B (III) aortic dissection.


$525,000 settlement for failing to perform vulvar biopsy, which delayed diagnosis of cancer for two years

The Plaintiff sought care from her gynecologist, at which time her gynecologist did not perform a necessary vulvar biopsy. Her gynecologist indicated that the white lesion on the vulvar was eczema and a biopsy was not performed until much later. The result of that biopsy revealed squamous cell carcinoma in-situ. Thereafter wide excision of the lesion was performed which demonstrated an invasive squamous cell cancer. The Plaintiff was treated with a radical hemivulvectomy and lymph node dissection.

Plaintiff argued that had the vulvar biopsy been performed a pre-invasive vulvar lesion would have been discovered and treatment of this could have been accomplished with wide local excision and/or laser vaporization. As a result of the two year delay, the Plaintiff had progression from dysplasia to an invasive carcinoma of the vulva which required radical surgery and lymph node dissection.


$500,000 settlement

Defendant negligently performed back surgery leaving the plaintiff with severe nerve damage.

$500,000 settlement for failure to properly interpret mammogram

The Plaintiff had her mammogram, interpreted by the Defendant radiologist which was read as revealing no mammographic evidence of malignancy. This examination in fact should have been reported as demonstrating a new irregular density. Plaintiff was able to establish that the Defendant radiologist deviated from the accepted standard of medical care by failing to detect, describe, fully evaluate, and make appropriate recommendations for follow up for the abnormality seen within the Plaintiff’s left breast on the mammogram Defendant radiologist interpreted. This deviation lead to a delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer of approximately one year. Plaintiff’s expert oncologist opined that the tumor would have been a Stage 1 carcinoma of the left breast had it been diagnosed and that the Plaintiff would not have had metastatic disease to the axillary lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis.


$500,000 settlement for failure to appropriately interpret mammography; failure to detect early signs of breast cancer

Plaintiff died as a result of a delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer.

Plaintiffs successfully argued that the defendant radiologist incorrectly interpreted the mammogram of the deceased plaintiff.

The deviations on the part of the defendant radiologist lead to a delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer of approximately one year. It was plaintiff’s expert opinion that had the tumor been diagnosed on the first scan then it would have been a stage I carcinoma of the left breast and the patient would not have had metastatic disease.


$450,000 settlement for the medical malpractice of a radiologist who failed to properly interpret chest x-rays

The chest x-rays were interpreted as normal by the defendant radiologist, instead of correctly diagnosing a pleural effusion and therefore, additional medical testing was not ordered. As a result of the misread of the x-ray, the patient’s deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli were not diagnosed earlier and she died from a massive pulmonary embolism.


$425,000 settlement for failing to appropriately interpret an MRI; four-year delay in diagnosis of acoustic neuroma, resulting in right facial nerve

The plaintiff sought care from an ear, nose and throat specialist due to loss of hearing. The treating physician referred the plaintiff for an MRI to rule out the origin of his hearing loss as a tumor. An MRI of the internal acoustic meatus was ordered and interpreted as normal. The plaintiff’s loss of hearing was considered to be idiopathic in nature. No further treatment was rendered until several years later, when the plaintiff presented with new symptoms, including sensation of numbness in his right upper face. This prompted the plaintiff to be sent for another MRI scan of the brain and internal auditory canals. This MRI study revealed a large mass of approximately 4 centimeters.

Plaintiff argued that had the acoustic neuroma been appropriately visualized and diagnosed by the MRI, it would have been less than 1 centimeter, and the likelihood of preserving the plaintiff’s facial nerve function for a tumor of this size was extremely high. Due to the fact that the tumor had grown to greater than 4 centimeters, the likelihood of injury to the facial nerve, despite the attempts to preserve the facial nerve, were extremely high. It was plaintiff’s position that the delay in diagnosis and the necessity of having to treat the tumor at a size of over 4 centimeters related to the damage to the plaintiff’s facial nerve and resulting facial nerve palsy; if the tumor had been operated on when it first should have been identified, the probability of facial nerve preservation was much greater.

As a result of the right facial nerve palsy, the plaintiff suffers with multiple difficulties such as closing his right eye, tearing of the right eye, chewing foods, drinking fluids, facial disfigurement and right-sided facial discomfort.


Confidential six-figure settlement for delay in the diagnosis of lupus

44-year-old male presented at his internist’s office complaining of a tick bite. Blood work was performed including Lyme Disease test and the results revealed rheumatoid findings. The internist contended the he referred the patient to a rheumatologist and the patient denied that such a referral was ever made. As a result of the internist failing to properly interpret the blood work, and make the appropriate referral, the patient was not diagnosed with Lupus at an earlier time and developed kidney disfunction due to the delay.


Confidential six-figure settlement for failing to recognize a pulmonary embolus

Plaintiff died due to the negligence of a cardiologist in failing to perform necessary diagnostic tests with a suspicion of pulmonary embolus.

The deceased plaintiff was seen by an internist who noted that the patient had felt ill for a number of months and was also complaining of dyspnea (shortness of breath). The ECG was abnormal and was referred to a cardiologist. The deceased plaintiff was evaluated by the cardiologist and at the time, a history of intermittent fevers as well as one flight dyspnea was elicited. The deceased plaintiff was treated for a presumed urinary tract infection, although the urine culture ultimately failed to demonstrate any significant abnormality. The physician treating the deceased plaintiff commented that his “initial thought pattern raises the question of pulmonary embolus”. Diagnostic studies were not performed due to the patient’s lack of medical insurance.

At the time of this visit with the cardiologist, the deceased plaintiff was accompanied by her mother who had always and consistently paid her medical bills. There was never a discussion with the patient or the patient’s mother regarding the performance of studies to rule out pulmonary embolus and there is no documentation in the chart that any such conversation took place. Had this diagnostic testing been discussed with the patient and her mother, her mother indicated that indeed they would have agreed to go forward with this testing.

Nine days later, the deceased plaintiff was transported to a hospital after suddenly loosing consciousness. The autopsy performed later that same day revealed thrombi within the inferior vena cava as well as massive bi-lateral pulmonary emboli.

It was the position of the plaintiffs that the cardiologist caring for the deceased plaintiff deviated from the accepted standard of medical practice. By his own admission, a pulmonary embolus was considered, but diagnostic studies were not performed due to the patient’s lack of medical insurance. Under such circumstances, the standard of medical care demanded that the physician clearly present his concerns to the patient as well as the potential harm that might be incurred if a ventilation/perfusion scan was not obtained. If the patient then chose not to proceed with the recommended diagnostic studies, such refusal should have been documented in the medical record.

Had the patient undergone a V/Q lung scan, pulmonary emboli would almost certainly have been demonstrated. Prompt treatment with Heparin and ultimately Warfarin would in all likelihood have prevented the massive embolization which resulted in the patient’s death.


Confidential six-figure settlement for failure to appropriately treat basal cell carcinoma with MOHS surgery

The Plaintiff presented to the unnamed Defendant dermatologist with a cystic scalp lesion. The tumor was excised and the Plaintiff was never told that the pathology results were consistent with basal cell carcinoma, morphea type. The Plaintiff returned to the physician’s office with a lump at the site of the previous scalp surgery. This recurrent lesion was then re-excised and the Plaintiff was finally advised as to the pathological findings. The cancer was re-excised for the third time.

The Defendant dermatologist once again noticed a nodule at the previous cancerous site. The Defendant, having failed to remove this aggressive skin cancer on three previous attempts, undertook a fourth attempt. The Plaintiff finally underwent MOHS skin cancer surgery.

MOHS surgery is the treatment of choice for basal cell carcinoma, morphea type. Plaintiff should have been referred for MOHS surgery. By failing to refer the Plaintiff for MOHS surgery this Plaintiff had to undergo multiple surgical procedures. The Plaintiff had to undergo extensive surgery to remove the basal cell carcinoma in her scalp and it resulted in a large post-surgical defect. (depression in the scalp and numbness).


Confidential six-figure settlement for wrongful death of 66-year-old retired man

A wrongful death action was recently settled on behalf of the estate of a deceased retiree for $225,000 as against a cardiologist and hospital. The case alleged improper cardiac monitoring in a known cardiac patient resulting in a massive heart attack and death.

A 66-year-old man with prior history of myocardial infarctions presented to the emergency of defendant hospital with complaints of chest pain, shortness of breath and pain radiating down both arms. The patient was observed in the emergency department overnight. The next morning he was admitted to a regular room rather than the Cardiac Care Unit. Cardiac monitoring was not available in the room he was in. Over the course of the next few days, the patient experienced repeated bouts of chest pain. In addition, he experienced anginal pain during a stress test which was performed at a low level of exercise. The patient was kept in the room and not transferred to the CCU. Several days later the patient went into cardiac arrest, was transferred to the CCU and died.


Confidential six-figure settlement for delay in diagnosis of breast cancer for one year and three months.

Defendants: Gynecologist; Radiologist:

37 year old female presented to her gynecologist’s office within one week of finding a lump on her right breast. The gynecologist referred her for a mammogram. The radiologists performed both a mammogram and sonogram and concluded that the lump was not malignant. The radiologist recommended clinical studies should the lump persist.

The plaintiff returned to the gynecologist’s office several more times over the next few months still complaining about the presence of the lump. No biopsy was performed.

Twelve months later, the plaintiff on her own initiative returned to the radiologists’ offices for a follow up mammogram. The radiologists concluded that the lump was not malignant. Three month’s later, during plastic surgery, the lump was removed and biopsied. It was cancerous. The plaintiff underwent a partial mastectomy as well as chemotherapy and radiation.

Patient was diagnosed at stage one at the time of diagnosis and was doing well five (5) post diagnosis.


Settlement for seven-figure confidential sum against two obstetricians for brain damaged baby as a result of the negligent use of a vacuum extractor during caesarean section at Hudson County, New Jersey hospital