New Study Reveals High Rates of Preventable Surgical Adverse Events in U.S. Hospitals

A recent investigation published in JAMA has sparked serious concerns within the healthcare community, especially among those of us in the field of medical malpractice law. This study reveals that patients are significantly more likely to experience adverse events, such as infections or falls, in hospitals owned by private equity (PE) firms.
The study highlights a 25% increase in hospital-acquired conditions among Medicare beneficiaries admitted to PE hospitals. Patients have a nearly 38% increased chance of experiencing a central line infection and a 27% higher likelihood of falls in PE-backed hospitals compared to control facilities.
In a landmark decision that highlights the importance of timely medical intervention, a Westchester County jury awarded a record-setting $120 million in a medical malpractice lawsuit against Westchester Medical Center. This verdict, delivered on November 30, 2023, after a four-week trial, marks the largest award ever in a medical malpractice case in Westchester County.
The case revolved around the hospital’s negligence in treating 41-year-old William Lee, who suffered from a stroke in 2018. Rushed to the hospital by ambulance, Lee was the victim of a critical delay in treatment. The jury found that inexperienced doctors on call were responsible for a three-hour delay in removing a clot from Lee’s basilar artery. This delay led to extensive brain damage, necessitating lifelong care at a residential brain injury center.
The tragedy of this case is underscored by the extent of Mr. Lee’s injuries. The damage to his brain has severely impaired his judgment and short-term memory, rendering him dependent on round-the-clock care and unable to provide for his family. The compensation awarded includes provisions for his future medical needs, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and compensation for his wife for the loss of his services and society.
As medical malpractice attorneys, our professional focus is on advocating for individuals suffering from medical negligence. The recent incident at Montefiore’s Family Health Center in The Bronx, where the body of Sary Mao went undiscovered for five days following her heart attack, resonates deeply with the issues we encounter in our work
The allegations against him underscore the importance of legal advocacy for survivors of sexual abuse and the urgent need to address the systemic failures that enable such atrocities to occur.
As doctor sexual abuse attorneys in the heart of New York City, we are committed to fighting for the rights of survivors and seeking justice against those people who have caused harm and those institutions, hospitals, schools and religious entities that facilitated the harm. Today, we bring to your attention a deeply disturbing case involving Dr. Zhi Alan Cheng, a physician at a major New York City hospital, who has been accused of perpetrating heinous sexual abuse against multiple victims in the hospital.
Dr. Cheng was arrested in December 2022 and has been charged with first-degree rape after allegedly drugging and raping women in the hospital and his own apartment. Incredibly, while Dr. Cheng awaits trial on Rikers Island, another victim has recently come forward accusing Dr. Cheng of sexual assault in 2021 at New York Presbyterian Hospital Queens where he was employed as a physician. The hospital faces accusations of covering up this abhorrent crime, failing to report it to the authorities, and neglecting to take appropriate disciplinary measures against Dr. Cheng.
Seeking Justice for Sexual Abuse Survivors
The Leapfrog Group is a nonprofit organization helping consumers to make informed decision. To be part of the list, hospitals that previously received a A grade from a previous assessment went through an additional assessment of 39 performance measures in the 7 following categories:
Hospitals are one of the favorite targets of ransomware hackers because hospitals simply can’t afford to have their IT down as it can cause severe harm or even death to patients. As a result when a hospital has its systems blocked by hackers it might be more willing to pay a ransom than any other type of organization in order to get their systems working again.
Recently, a debt collection company working with 657 healthcare providers announced that it had been the victim of a cyber attack. Hackers were able to obtain patients information including their name, address, social security number and medical information. It is unclear so far how many patients have been affected but this might have been of of the largest healthcare data breach of 2022.
Our client, a man in his fifties, walked into the emergency department of his local hospital with complaints of abdominal pain. He was dead within hours. He left behind a wife and three grown sons.
Every year the ECRI institute releases a list of top main concerns that may lead to patient harm and medical malpractice. While cybersecurity was one of the main concerns in the previous years, the ongoing Covid 19 crisis put a lot of pressure on hospital staffing and “staffing shortages” is now at the top of the concerns followed by worker’s mental health and racial disparity in treatments.
The pandemic emphasized concerns that were already latent in the American healthcare system but that have worsened during the pandemic: