Articles Posted in New York City

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This is a medical malpractice case filed against the defendant NYC hospital because of the negligence committed by its employees during plaintiff’s birth in September 1993. According to the hospital records, the medical employees in attendance gave his mother Pitocin, a drug used to facilitate the birth. The delivery involved two attempts at vacuum extraction and, ultimately, the use of forceps. Records show that the mother’s pelvis was adequate to accommodate the baby’s head and the birth was without complication. The infant weighed 8 pounds, 3½ ounces. His Apgar score was within satisfactory range: eight at one minute after birth and nine at five minutes after birth. The records also reveal that there were marks on his forehead from the forceps and his clavicle was broken. Because of the foregoing, plaintiff is presently suffering from epilepsy and developmental disabilities.

The record reveals that in 1995 plaintiff had an electroencephalogram (EEG), a test to trace his brain waves. The results were normal, but EEGs in 1998 and 1999 showed signs of abnormality. On September 5, 2003, 10 years after plaintiff’s birth, his counsel sent defendant hospital a notice of claim alleging, in essence, that plaintiff suffered brain injury resulting from the hospital’s malpractice during his delivery.

In support of his motion for late service of a notice of claim, plaintiff argued that section 50-e (5) contemplates “actual knowledge of the essential facts constituting the claim,” not knowledge of a specific legal theory, and because defendant hospital is in possession of the medical records, they necessarily have actual knowledge of the facts constituting the claim. Plaintiff further argued that the delay in the service of claim was a product of his infancy.

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When a new mother considers her birthing options, she is often drawn to the home birthing option. No one likes to go to a hospital, and everyone is more comfortable in their own homes. The thought of being able to bring your new childinto the world in the warm environment of their home is an attractive notion for many women and their families. The argument is often raised that women all over the world have babies at home every day. Women have been giving birth to babies for thousands of years without hospitals. This argument leaves out the mortality rate associated with the babies that are born in these other countries, in the past, and at home. A home birth is a wonderful option for an experienced mother who has delivered children previously without difficulty. If there is any chance that a complication may arise in the birth, the safest place for the woman to deliver is in a hospital where she and the infant can obtain the best quality emergency medical care. The safety of the child or children should be the most important factor in deciding the location where a mother will deliver her child.

That was not the case when in December of 2003, a woman in New York decided that she wanted to have a home birth with a midwife. She chose the company called My Midwife to handle her pregnancy. On January 28, 2004, the midwife performed a sonogram evaluation of the woman and discovered that she was pregnant with twin infants. Rather than seeking more specialized medical attention for what is commonly considered a high risk pregnancy, the midwife continued to care for the mother in her home. On June 24, 2004, during an examination, the midwife determined that one of the baby boys heart rates was slowing down. She accompanied the mother to Nassau University Medical Center where they reexamined the mother. They were not able to detect any problem with the baby’s heart rate; however, they advised the mother that that her pregnancy was considered a high risk pregnancy and that they felt that the best action to take would be to admit her into the hospital. They suggested that with admittance to the hospital, they would appoint a high risk pregnancy specialist to take over the woman’s case and to delay delivery as long as possible. They informed the mother that the best course of action when delivering twins is to deliver them in a hospital setting as they commonly have more complications than single pregnancies. The mother conferred with the midwife and determined that the midwife did not have birthing privileges at that hospital. She also discovered that the midwife was not certified to deliver multiple babies. The midwife told her that she would have someone who was certified to deliver multiples present at the birth and the mother left the hospital with the midwife.

Over the next week, the midwife made contact with a nurse practitioner who was qualified to deliver twins. However, she was invited to the birth as an observer. On July 1, 2004, the mother went into labor at home. The midwife arrived along with the nurse practitioner, and one of the owners of the midwife company. The birth was video taped. One baby was delivered with little difficulty, but his brother was born dead. The mother filed a wrongful death suit when she discovered that the midwives and their company did not have the capability of monitoring the heart rates of both babies during the birth.

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The Facts:

On 14 August 1989, the infant plaintiff was born at a Hospital and has suffered from a birth injury, that is, a brain injury called cerebral palsy. On 11 February 2004, plaintiffs filed a Notice of Claim and commenced the instant action on 18 March 2004. The plaintiffs allege that defendant departed from good and accepted medical practice between April 1989 through 14 August1989, viz: in its monitoring and treatment of infant plaintiff’s mother’s obstetric care, including running tests and taking a proper history; in failing to implement proper obstetric protocols and procedures; and in failing to implement proper protocols and procedures to ensure adequate obstetric training of its medical personnel.

The defendant, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, moved for an order dismissing plaintiffs’ complaint as untimely pursuant to NY Unconsolidated Law and the General Municipal Law. Defendant argues that plaintiffs’ claims are time-barred due to plaintiffs’ failure to file a Notice of Claim within 90 days and commence an action within one year and 90 days; that the action is one for medical malpractice based upon defendant’s alleged negligence in monitoring and treating plaintiff, but plaintiffs are trying to circumvent the statute of limitations by categorizing the current action as ordinary negligence.

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On 21 February 2002, the infant plaintiff was born at a Hospital in Brooklyn with a congenital condition known as tracheobronchomalacia, defined as a degeneration of the elastic and connective tissue of the tracheal windpipe and bronchi, which can cause central airway collapse with respiration; and a second congenital condition of diaphragmatic paralysis, in which problems arise with the movement of the diaphragm. Shortly after delivery, the infant was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for respiratory distress. He was thereafter transferred to another Hospital where it was determined that his condition was not surgically correctable. He was readmitted to Brooklyn Hospital’s NICU, and at the approximate age of three months, he was transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). While in the PICU, the infant plaintiff suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest which required resuscitation. The infant plaintiff was resuscitated after almost one hour, but he had sustained severe neurological damage or brain injury.

From June 1 to 6 of 2002, the period in question, doctor-one was the pediatric intensivist at the PICU. Doctor-two from New York City, a pediatric pulmonologist, was on duty for the department of pediatric pulmonology for patients, and was consulted by the intensivist at the PICU concerning the infant’s pulmonary status. Doctor-three was an attending neonatologist, and claims that her only contact with the infant plaintiff was during a code called by doctor-one on 6 June 2002.

Subsequently, a medical malpractice action was instituted for the plaintiff’s birth injury. Plaintiff alleges that doctors one two and three failed to respond to indications of respiratory distress and disregarded tonic limb extension which was indicative of central nervous system involvement, resulting in the infant suffering a prolonged cardiac arrest with bilateral pneumothorax, and failed to properly resuscitate the infant; that doctor-one failed to respond to various signs, failed to properly diagnose, treat, and medicate; that doctor-one failed to timely administer a therapeutic means of respiratory support; and undertook placement of a peripheral line which was contraindicated, instead of undertaking an alternative IV line placement.

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The Facts:

The infant’s mother was under the care of East Bronx Medical Group during her third pregnancy. On 2 April 1969, at about 11:30 P.M., she was admitted to Bronx Lebanon Medical Center in the early stages of active labor.

Doctor-one of the Medical Group determined late in the mother’s pregnancy that her uterus may have been developing larger than normal. X-ray studies ruled out any congenital abnormality or multiple births. Clinical pelvimetry, which is an internal examination of the dimensions of the pelvic canal, revealed that the intertuberous measurement was 8.0 centimeter which indicated that the mother had an adequate pelvis for the delivery of a child. Moreover, the mother had already given birth to an average-sized baby without any difficulty.

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The Facts:

On 30 May 2000, the infant plaintiff was born approximately twelve weeks prematurely in a medical facility operated by defendants. The infant plaintiff suffered from neonatal respiratory distress syndrome, and he was placed in neonatal intensive care, where his blood oxygen and blood acidity was monitored by defendants’ staff. The blood oxygen was continuously measured by a pulse oximeter: a device, attached to the patient’s finger that uses light to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood. A respirator and breathing tube was used when it was noted that the infant plaintiff cannot breathe. At 11:00 AM on the following day,

Defendants’ staff performed arterial blood gas analysis, which is a laboratory analysis of a drawn blood sample that specifies both the acidity and the amount of saturated gas in the sample. The test demonstrated that the pH of the infant plaintiff’s blood was 7.254. At around 2:30 PM, a NYC doctor, also of defendants’ staff, ordered a second arterial blood gas analysis. At 3:00 PM that afternoon, the blood oxygen saturation was over 90%, according to the pulse oximeter. At 4:15 PM, the blood oxygen saturation dropped to around 50%-60% from a previous level of over 90%. Shortly thereafter, defendants’ staff noted that the infant was suffering from a hemorrhage in the lungs. Consequently, the staff cleared the blood from the lungs and then adjusted the respirator settings and breathing tube. The staff then administered a paralytic to immobilize the infant plaintiff and prevent him from removing the breathing apparatus. At 8:00 PM, another arterial blood gas analysis was done, the result of which was a pH of 6.7, which is dangerously low. The staff then adjusted the respirator to administer more oxygen through forced breathing. The following day, medical imaging showed that the infant plaintiff had suffered a brain hemorrhage and hydrocephalus, which is increased intracranial pressure on the brain caused by the accumulation of fluid. The hemorrahge caused periventricular leukomalacia, the destruction of white matter of the brain. This, in turn, caused the infant plaintiff to develop cerebral palsy; a brain injury.

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A man commenced a wrongful death action against a hospital and three physicians. The incident happened when the wife of the man was presented to the hospital to give birth to their daughter. The mother died the next day after the delivery from an infection allegedly not previously diagnosed or treated. In the instant action, the man sought damages in the sum of $500,000 for his wife’s wrongful death and $50,000 for conscious pain and suffering.

The complaint alleges that the physicians undertook and did provide hospital services to the mother with negligence and inappropriate nature constituting acts of medical malpractice and that each of the three doctors was acting within the scope of his employment by the hospital. Thereafter the three doctors settled the wrongful death action against them for $115,000. The settlement was approved by order of the Supreme Court. Two days later, a provision in discontinuing the action as to the doctors was executed by them and the attorneys for the complainant.

Afterwards, the NYC hospital filed a motion for an order requiring the doctors to appear for an examination before trial and it was granted. The order of special term directed the doctors to appear for examination before trial at the conclusion of examinations of the hospital and the complainant man. However, despite the order, the three doctors moved for an order to modify the caption of the man’s action so as to delete their names as party opponents. The doctors contended to the stipulation of discontinuance that they were no longer opponents.

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A woman of foreign descent was pregnant with twin boys. She gave birth at a public hospital owned and managed by the City of New York on October 25, 1981. The twins were born prematurely at seven months’ gestation only. One of the twins was brought to the newborn nursery of the public hospital where he stayed until he was discharged on December 23, 1981.

One month after the son’s birth, the boy’s left thigh swelled. He underwent x-ray and it was discovered that the thigh bone was fractured. The doctors at the public hospital repaired the fractured thigh bone. The doctors put a cast on the left thigh until it healed. The child recovered.

Nine years after the child was born, the mother brought a suit in medical malpractice against the public hospital. She claims that the negligence of the doctors who delivered and cared for her child in the nursery caused the fracture in her son’s left thigh which caused the child’s legs to grown unevenly: his left leg is shorter than the right leg and the child limps.

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This is an action sought by the defendants for the court to dismiss the complaint based on a summary judgment. The infant plaintiff, represented by her mother and natural guardian, sought to recover damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained by the infant plaintiff due to lead poisoning, negligence and medical malpractice committed by the defendants. The court dismissed the complaint and ruled in favor of the defendants.

After her birth, the infant plaintiff resided in an apartment with a peeling paint condition with her mother and father. The infant plaintiff was seen at the hospital emergency room of one of the defendants for asthma and lead blood testing. The result of the lead blood testing showed that it is within the normal range. Subsequently, the infant plaintiff went to another hospital, one of the defendants in this case, for the treatment of skin problems. The mother was directed to bring the infant plaintiff back to see physician for a well-child visit in one month. On October 17, 2002, at which time the infant plaintiff was three years, two months, of age, she underwent a complete examination as well as a development assessment, which indicated that she had met her three-year-old milestones appropriately. The infant plaintiff’s blood was drawn for lead testing at this visit, and the result showed a blood lead level within the normal range. On 2003, when the infant plaintiff was in Connecticut, it was diagnosed that her lead blood content elevated to 24 ug/dL, i.e. above the normal range. Thereafter, the infant plaintiff together with her parents returned to their apartment and had a regular check up with the defendant’s hospital again.

On September 27, 2003, the New York City Department of Health inspected the apartment where the infant plaintiff lives and found lead paint hazards on five painted surfaces.

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A woman was pregnant at thirty-one weeks in August 2001. She was rushed to the emergency room because of premature labor. The doctors found that she was suffering from hypoglycemia or low blood sugar at 26 mg/dl. Her blood sugar levels normalized so she was discharged two days later.

A month later, the woman was rushed to the same emergency room because she was having seizures. She has had a history of seizure since childhood. A month later, the woman gave birth to a baby boy whose new born health rating was excellent. Forty minutes after he was delivered, the baby started trembling and shivering. He was transferred to the intensive care unit where his blood sugar level was discovered to be only 20 mg/dl. A little while later, his blood sugar level was measured at 5 mg/dl. He was given intravenous glucose until his blood sugar levels reached a more normal 71 mg/dl. He was discharged from the hospital two days after he was born.

A year later, the baby was referred back to the same hospital where he was born because he had developmental delays. An MRI was made of his brain and it was discovered that he had lost white matter in his brain. This suggested to the doctor that the baby had an episode where he suffered a brain injury due to lack of oxygen. He was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

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