Blog: Thoughts on Law and Life

$1.3 Million Failure to Diagnose Tendon Injury

Our client was a 62 year-old supermarket chef, who presented to an emergency room after cutting his hand at work. After noting that his hand and fingers had “full range of motion,” the wounds were sutured. Weeks later a hand specialist discovered that our client had sustained a torn extensor tendon to the middle finger and was now unable to open that finger. Even after surgery to reconnect the tendon, complications ensued and our client was unable to return to work. At trial, in Supreme Court, New York County, the hospital’s lawyers noted that the possibility of a tendon injury had been ruled out by the physical exam, which showed “full range of motion”. However, our expert explained that the hand contains a band of fiber known as the juncturae tendinum, which can permit motion to a finger even after a tendon has been cut because of its connection to the other fingers. We successfully argued that the standard of care required further testing before ruling out a tendon injury. The jury returned a verdict in favor of our client for $1,278,000.

$3 Million Post-Surgical Complications

42 year-old woman underwent gynecological surgery resulting in numerous complications requiring multiple additional surgeries and resulting in her death 28 months later. Case settled at mediation for $3 million.

$4.825 Million Late Diagnosis/Treatment of Bacterial Meningitis

Our client was a previously healthy three week old baby boy whose parents brought him to a local emergency room after he would not stop crying. Even though the ER was virtually empty, the baby was not evaluated by a doctor for over two hours and then, signs of possible bacterial meningitis, a highly dangerous and frequently deadly infection, were not immediately recognized. Even after being seen by the doctor, a lumbar puncture was not performed until about four hours later and antibiotics were not administered until about an hour after that. The defendants argued that this five or six hour delay had no effect on the child’s outcome, as the child was already sick at the time he came to the hospital. We argued that under these circumstances, the standards of care required immediate antibiotics which would have given the child an opportunity for a better outcome and less severe disabilities. As a result of the meningitis, the child suffered multiple neurological and cognitive impairments, including a near total loss of vision. The case was settled for $4,825,000, which will ultimately yield much more because some of the funds are being invested in structured settlements.