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 Tagged with surgical malpractice

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Yesterday, our partner Christopher Donadio and his client Jose Marrero were featured on The Rush Hour on NY1 and interviewed by Annika Pergament. The segment highlighted the urgent need for the Grieving Families Act (GFA) and the devastating personal impact of New York’s outdated wrongful death laws. Jose Marrero shared his tragic story of losing his wife during a routine procedure at Maimonides Medical Center, underscoring the emotional toll on families who are left without fair recourse under current legislation.

The Grieving Families Act (GFA) aims to rectify one of the most longstanding injustices in New York law—the denial of wrongful death restitution for grief and emotional suffering. Under the current system, compensation is limited to the lost income of the deceased and any pain and suffering prior to death. This outdated approach often leaves families of children, stay-at-home parents, and elderly individuals without any restitution, perpetuating systemic inequities.

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percentage of adverse events for patients undergoing surgeryRecent findings published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) have revealed alarming statistics about the safety of surgical care in hospitals. This extensive study, conducted across 11 U.S. hospitals, highlights the urgent need for improved safety measures to prevent adverse events during surgery. As medical malpractice attorneys, we understand the devastating impact such errors can have on patients and their families, especially when these adverse events are preventable.

Key Findings: Nearly 40% of Surgical Patients Experience Adverse Events

According to the study, adverse events were identified in 38% of patients admitted for surgery. Even more concerning, nearly 16% of these patients suffered major adverse events that resulted in significant harm, prolonged recovery, or even death. The study used a comprehensive review of medical records to assess over 1,000 patients, highlighting the severity and preventability of these adverse incidents.

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Postoperative_X-ray_of_normal_knee_prosthesis,_lateral_viewAn investigation presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons meeting in February 2024, delivers a compelling narrative on the comparative outcomes of robotic-assisted knee replacement surgeries versus the conventional approach. As surgical malpractice attorneys entrenched in the intersection of medical innovation and patient outcomes, this study serves as a crucial touchstone for understanding the potential implications on patient care and legal practice.

At the heart of the discussion is the study’s revelation: robotic assistance in cementless total knee replacement surgeries does not significantly decrease the likelihood of patients requiring revision surgery within two years when compared to manual methods. This conclusion draws attention not only for its clinical implications but also for its potential to reshape perceptions of medical negligence in the context of emerging surgical technologies.

The research analyzed 9,220 cementless total knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedures recorded in the American Joint Replacement Registry from January 2017 to March 2020. The finding that both robotic-assisted and manual knee replacements had similar rates of implant loosening and infection challenges the narrative that robotic assistance inherently enhances surgical precision and patient outcomes.

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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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UW_surgery_and_residentsMore than 40 million Americans are undergoing surgery every year. An estimated 35.8 million of them will immediately return home after having their surgery performed in a freestanding ambulatory surgery center or in a hospital-based outpatient setting. Another 7 million will be required to stay at the hospital after their surgery. While most patients fully recover from their surgery without problems some of them will suffer from surgical complications or errors. It is estimated that around 14% of surgical patients encounter at least one adverse event.

In a recent study, the ECRI and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices took a close look at surgical malpractice and analyzed 2,400 surgical adverse events that were recently reported to them. Among these 2,400 reported surgical malpractice events, researchers found that 1,561 of them were relevant. They found that 478 of them (31%) were complications related to the surgery, 460 (29%) of them were adverse events related to patient and operating room readiness,  377 (24%) were retained surgical items, 102 (6.5%) were contaminations, 80 (5.1%) were adverse events caused by equipment failure and 64 (4.1) were wrong surgeries.

To reduce these adverse events, the ECRI recommended the following strategies:

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surgery-centerTwo recent articles discuss the increased risks of medical practice at surgery centers as they take on increasingly risky surgeries.

A global investigation by Christina Jewett from Kaiser Health News and Mark Alesia from USA Today reveals that since 2013, 260 people died of complications after they went for an in-and-out procedure at a surgery center in America.

Another investigation led by Lindy Washburn from NorthJersey.com found that more than 12,000 serious cases of personal  injury including 52 deaths have occurred in New Jersey surgery centers between September 2008 and September 2017. Additionally Washburn also found out that these numbers were only reflecting a partial reality as among the 298 surgery centers installed in New Jersey only half of them have to report to NJ’s Patient Safety Reporting System. In New Jersey surgical centers with only one room don’t need to report their patient safety data. Previous cases of medmal indicate that some victims died in the past but exact numbers are nowhere to be found. In her article Washburn describes several cases including the one of  Rekhaben Shah, a 67 year old woman who went to one of these centers for a routine colonoscopy and died two days later. A new law was just passed that will soon require all New Jersey surgical centers to report patients safety data.

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New York Medical Malpractice Lawyer Ben RubinowitzOur partner, Ben Rubinowitz, a nationally regarded plaintiff’s lawyer, recently lectured at the Winter Urologic Forum sponsored by Columbia University, Vanderbilt University, and University of California Davis.

One of the main topics in his talk focused on the issue of Concurrent Surgeries, or what is commonly referred to as Simultaneous Surgeries.  Although many teaching hospitals throughout the country participate in this practice, Rubinowitz made clear that it is not in the best interests of the patient to have the doctor leave the operating room while treating one patient to attend to another.

Although the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently suggested that Concurrent Surgeries were safe for patients, Rubinowitz challenged that study.

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