Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf is a New York Plaintiff's personal injury law firm specializing in automobile accidents, construction accidents, medical malpractice, products liability, police misconduct and all types of New York personal injury litigation.

Articles Posted in Medical Malpractice

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Dan-and-ElisaA faulty medical determination of child abuse or neglect can destroy the life of a child and its family. “Measure twice, cut once,” is a great rule for carpenters; it’s also an important lesson for Child Protective Services. 

In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, an attorney and professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City, and Elisa Reiter, a Board Certified Attorney in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, look at the recent House Bill 2536  that was recently passed in Texas.   The bill allows parents who are accused of child abuse or neglect to ask for a second medical opinion before CPS terminates their parental rights. The bill especially seeks to protect parents of special needs children.

The bill was created after the family of Drake Pardo, a special needs child,  went through an unjustified ordeal with CPS.  The drama started when the Pardo family filed a complaint against a hospital that did not take care of them proprely. In a retaliation move, a doctor at the hospital filed a complaint with Child Protective Services based on a faulty medical report. As a result, Child Services showed up at the Pardo’s door in April 2019 and immediately removed 4 year old Drake from his parents. The parents had to fight an intense legal battle and were not allowed to take their child back until October 2019.

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The off-label use of Acellular Dermal Matrix (ADM) products in implant-based breast reconstruction can result in post surgical complications and problems for patients up to two years after the surgery according to a recent analysis by the FDA.

Off-label use not approved by FDA

Accellular Dermal Matrix is a type of surgical mesh that is developed from human or animal skin.  It has been approved by the FDA for specific use such as hernia surgery and more recently many surgeons specializing in breast reconstruction after a mastectomy have been using the product off-label.  The off-label use of ADM for breast reconstruction has never been approved by the FDA and a recent analysis found that some patients suffered complications up to two years after the surgery.

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top 10 patient safety concern ECRIEvery year, ECRI publishes a list of the top 10 patients safety concerns. This year the number one safety concern is the disparity of treatments based on races and ethnicities. The maternal mortality for example is 3.3 times higher for black mothers than white ones.  The Covid19 crisis also highlighted this concern with a much higher number of black and Latino Americans dying from the disease.  While looking at Covid19 deaths in the US, 32.5% of the victims are from Hispanic descent while Hispanics represent 18.5 % of the US population. Race disparities are also significant while looking at deaths from strokes. While black adults are 50% more likely to have a stroke than white adults,  black men are 60 % more likely to die from it than white men and black women 30% more than white women. Health organizations must incorporate health equality in their strategic planning.

The top 2 patient safety concern identified by ECRI is the emergency preparedness and response in aging services. The covid19 pandemic and previous hurricane situations have shown that aging services such as nursing homes and other elderly facilities are not well prepared for emergency situations.  Plans must be developed and communicated to all parties from resident, to staff, families, public and emergency responders.

The top 3 patient safety concerns that were uncovered during the actual pandemic is that, globally, the US Health system was absolutely not ready for a pandemic. From the inability to triage and plan patients flow, under capacities, inadequate supplies of medical equipment, mortuary mismanagement and the mishandling of infection prevention and control, the crisis showed that pandemic preparedness across the health system is a major patient safety concern.

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NYC Medical Malpractice Attorney Jeff BloomCongratulations to our partner Jeffrey Bloom for being ranked 19th on the City & State list of the 100 most powerful legal professionals in New York! Jeffrey joined Gair, Gair, Conason, Rubinowitz, Bloom, Hershenhorn, Steigman & Mackauf immediately after he graduated from  law school in 1979. He became one of the most prominent personal injury and medical malpractice attorneys in New York and has achieved multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements for his clients in personal injury cases related to car accidents, construction accidents, product liability and medical malpractice.  He also served as lead counsel, representing the Estate of Joan Rivers in a medical malpractice action arising from her death following surgery at an ambulatory surgical center.

Jeff is  co-chair of the Medical Malpractice Committee and LAWPAC of New York (the influential Trial Lawyers’ political action committee) for the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. He combines his vast knowledge in the field with his political acumen to effectuate change and preserve justice for those injured through the fault of others.  Jeff who has successfully represented multiple clients whose cancer was misdiagnosed, was instrumental in passing the “Lavern’s Law,” which mandated that the statute of limitations in cases on behalf of cancer patients and their families begins to run when the patient reasonably discovers that he/she has been the victim of malpractice.

For more than a decade, Jeff has been listed yearly in Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers. He is also a member of the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers which limits the number if its members to 500.

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endoscopic surgeryInappropriate cleaning of medical devices especially the cleaning of flexible endoscopes continue to be a significant cause of deaths and serious injuries to patients.

Not adequately processed reusable devices are a main conduit for healthcare associated infections which according to previous reports have caused at least 2 million infections and the death of 90,000 patients.

A  previous study at 3 large American hospitals and published in the American Journal of Infection Control found that more that 70% of reusable medical scopes ready for use on patients tested positive for bacteria.

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280px-Patient_receiving_dialysis_03The corporate dialysis industry is resorting to unethical tactics and medical malpractice to prevent patients getting the kidney transplant they need to survive and to keep them on dialysis for years. As a result, many patients who had to go to dialysis centers several times a week during the pandemic, caught Covid19 and died. In a recent investigation, ProPublica describes the multiple obstacles that JaMarcus had to go through to be able to get on the list for a kidney transplant before the covid19 pandemic hit and he ultimately died from contracting the virus at a dialysis center.

In the US, two companies, DaVita and and Fresenius, control 70% of the dialysis market

Patients who require dialysis are mostly patients who suffer form diabetes and who develop end stage kidney failure. While many of these patients could be saved by receiving a kidney transplant, two corporate dialysis companies are spending millions in heavy lobbying so they can continue to get multi billion dollar revenues from mostly Medicare patients who are getting dialysis multiple times a week instead of receiving the transplant they need. According to a recent article in Kaiser Health News, over the last 4 years DaVita and Frenesius spent $212 million just in California to influence voters and politicians and fight a ballot initiative that would have capped their profits.

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metal in mask MRIThe FDA recently received a complaint from a patient whose face was burned after wearing a facemask with metal during a MRI. The patient was undergoing a 3 TESLA MRI scan of the neck. The burns were consistent with the shape of the mask.

It is clearly negligent to allow a patient to enter an MRI without checking for metal in a face mask. Anyone who is being scheduled for a MRI procedure must be checked for metal placed in or on their body including in their face mask.

Typically, patients undergoing an MRI are submitted to a metal checklist during which they are asked if they are wearing electronic devices, had metal in their eyes, have implants, had previous surgery on their head or ears or are wearing items such as jewelry, hearing aids, medication patches and obviously these days, a mask that doesn’t contain metal.

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OxyContin_branded_oxycodone_10mg_OC_sideA Staten Island doctor committed gross medical malpractice by illegally prescribing massive quantities of oxicodone pills and asking some of his patients for sexual favors in return. 65 year old Joseph Santiamo, a geriatric care physician whose New York State License was recently suspended, pleaded guilty in front of New Jersey US District Judge Michael A. Shipp to illegally prescribing more than 65,000 pills to 7 patients and to solicit sex in exchange for prescriptions from most of them. Two patients were prescribed a total of 14,000 pills and another one was prescribed 9,000 pills.

“Even more egregiously, (he) solicited sexual favors from certain patients who were struggling with substance abuse in exchange for writing them additional opioid prescriptions,” said New Jersey U.S. Attorney Craig Carpentito. “Instead of getting help from their doctor, they were drawn deeper into the cycle of drug abuse.”

Santiamo was arrested during a major law enforcement sweep in the North East during which 54 people were busted including 15 doctors. The doctor was “treating patients” who lived in New Jersey, Upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Florida. While the doctor was supposedly a geriatric specialist, his patients were all younger than 40 years old.  The doctor admitted that he solicited at least 5 of them for sexual favors. From January 1 2012 to May 3rd 2018, the “patients” would visit the doctor in his office and have sexual encounters with him in his office in exchange for oxycodone prescriptions. When he was asked by investigators how the sexual relationships started, the doctor replied “They had a need”.

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photo__2573607_christopher_conadio_pp-1Our partner, Christopher Donadio will be one of three Distinguished Panel Members at the “How to Effectively use a Neurosurgeon in the Courtroom” CLE program organized by The New York City Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) & The Defense Association of New York tomorrow from 5:00pm to 7:00 pm EST via ZOOM.

Christopher will speak about the Plaintiff’s Perspective while the second panel member, Jenine Gerrard, a defense attorney with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP will speak about the Defense Perspective. The other member of the panel is Dr. Christopher Allyn Lycette, a Board Certified Neurosurgeon. The program will be moderated by Sean Dugan, an attorney with Martin Clearwater & Bell LLP.

Suitable for both  experienced and newly admitted attorneys, the panel fulfills 2 CLE skills credits. It is not too late to subscribe for this 2-hour Zoom Program that will start tomorrow, Tuesday November 12 at 5:00pm. Click here to subscribe or download the PDF

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Best Law Firms - Standard BadgeFor the 11th consecutive year, our New York Personal Injury Law Firm was named a Best Law Firm 2021 by U.S. News – Best Lawyers®. The firm was also named

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