Medical Malpractice

January 16, 2020

New Report Describes ‘Extremely Alarming’ Rates of Maternal Mortality

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

The United States stands alone in the developed world for its high rate of maternal deaths. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 700 women die each year during childbirth. According to NBC News, the number of maternal deaths is even more disturbing because they seem to be isolated to racial minorities, particularly black women. In New York, which has been fruitlessly trying to reduce its maternal mortality rate, the number of deaths is still increasing and the race gap is growing larger each year. Last year, a black woman was 12 percent more likely to die during child birth in New York.

“It’s extremely alarming,” Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, an NYU professor and author of a recent study on the subject, told NBC News. “We actually learned that most of the women who died had received no prenatal care. These women who are under-served in the city are not seeing their physicians.”

The study analyzed New York’s maternal death rate over the last two decades and focused on the effect of several initiatives – some at the hospital level and some at a government level – to reduce the rate. “What we found was that hospitals are doing some programs to reduce maternal mortality, and there are programs being done in the community as well, but they’re not linked up.” According to Dr. Shirazian, this lack of coordination means minority mothers and low-income mothers are unable to reap the “maximum benefits” of the program.

January 8, 2020

Poor Patient Outcomes Associated with Visiting Doctor in Afternoon

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

A new study suggests that doctors are more likely to skip screenings and otherwise make mistakes with patients later in the day. According to a JAMA Network Open study, doctors ordered fewer breast and colon cancer screenings for patients with an afternoon appointment – despite the fact that all patients were due for a screening. According to the study, the doctor was most likely to order a medical screening for his patient with an 8 AM appointment. By 4 PM, the likelihood that the doctor would order screens for their patient had dropped by 10 to 15 percent.

Other studies have confirmed that poorer outcomes for patients are more likely in the afternoon. A 2014 study, cited by The New York Times, found that doctors were more likely to dole out unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions in the afternoon. In fact, the likelihood of an unnecessary antibiotic is 26 times higher for a 4 PM appointment compared to an 8 AM appointment. Other studies located by the New York Times found that patients were less likely to receive the flu vaccine and more likely to receive prescription opioids for back pain. Even the amount of hand washing by doctors fell during the afternoon hours.

January 6, 2020

Burned Out Doctors Endanger their Patients

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

With more doctors putting in long hours, the profession now carries one of the highest risks of burnout. According to the AMA, physicians suffer from “burnout” roughly twice the rate for the general population. The blame, according to doctors, lies in the corporatization of healthcare which has rapidly accelerated over the last decade. Doctors say that corporate healthcare chains squeeze as many patients as possible onto each doctor attempting to maximize their revenue. This leaves doctors without adequate time to diagnose a patient, record their medical information, and deal with their health insurance companies. In a New York Times article, the author states that doctors work nights and weekends to adequately care for all their patients at “a high personal cost.”

Regulations also eat up an unnecessary amount of time, according to doctors. The E.M.R. or Electronic Medical Record appears especially burdensome. Data shows that primary care physicians are now spending two hours typing into the E.M.R. for each hour spent with their patients. The time spent on the E.M.R. does not even include the compliance workshops and continued medical education required of all doctors.

January 5, 2020

Ohio Doctor Charged with Intentionally Killing At Least 25 Patients

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

Last month, an Ohio doctor was charged with killing at least 25 of his patients administering lethal levels of the powerful opioid fentanyl. After four years of intentionally drugging his patients, murderous doctor’s killing spree finally ended late last year when a pharmacist finally alert hospital authorities. After an internal inquiry, the hospital deemed the deaths of 35 Dr. William Husel’s patient’s “suspicious.” Now, patients told that their loved ones died of natural causes are furious at the doctor and the hospital for allowing the doctor’s murder spree to continue for so long.

According to The New York Times, Dr. Husel began prescribing lethal amounts of fentanyl to patients at least four years ago. Typically, the doctor would prescribe these deadly doses to patients unlikely to survive anyway. As an acute care doctor who worked the overnight shift, prosecutors say he frequently worked with “new nurses” who may have lacked the experience or bravery to challenge the doctor’s prescribing habits. According to interviews with hospital authorities, the pharmacists also proved complicit in the overdoses by overriding hospital protocols which specifically warned about the likelihood of death caused by a massive fentanyl dose. Amazingly, prosecutors say they will not charge any other hospital staffers in the deaths although some have lost their jobs and nursing licenses.

January 4, 2020

Sprain Brook Manor Rehab Cited For Pressure Ulcers, Abuse

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

Sprain Brook Manor Rehab in Scarsdale, New York received 40 citations for violations of public health laws between October 2015 and September 2019, according to the New York State Department of Health records accessed on November 4, 2019. The citations resulted from eight inspections by the Department of Health, the public entity tasked with overseeing health and safety standards in nursing home facilities; the statewide average is 32 citations. The violations described by the Department’s citations include the following:

1. The nursing home did not ensure the competency of its nursing staff. Section 483.35 of the Federal Code requires nursing home facilities to employ “sufficient nursing staff with the appropriate competencies and skills sets” to care for residents. A May 2019 citation found that Sprain Brook Rehab did not ensure that its Certified Nursing Assistants “demonstrated competency to provide safe care and respond to individual needs” for one of three residents reviewed. An inspector specifically found that the resident, who was unable to stand and needed assistance to transfer with the aid of a mechanical device, was transferred by nursing assistants when that device was not functioning, but that the assistants did not inform the nurse or seek “guidance for how to safely transfer the resident.” The inspector noted that the resident described feeling pain when she was being transferred.

January 3, 2020

Briarcliff Manor Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Cited For Pressure Ulcers

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

Between 2015 and 2019, Briarcliff Manor Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care received 48 citations for violations of public health laws, according to the New York Department of Health on November 2, 2019. The Briarcliff Manor, New York nursing home received these citations after four inspections during that period, in addition to the two fines it received between 2010 and 2016. Briarcliff Manor’s 48 citations are 16 more than the statewide average of 32. The violations described by state surveyors include the following:

1. The nursing home did not develop and implement comprehensive care plans. Section 483.21 of the Federal Code requires nursing home facilities to “develop and implement a comprehensive person-centered care plan for each resident” in accordance with residents’ rights. A March 2019 citation found that Briarcliff Manor did not develop and implement care plans adequate to address one resident’s bladder and bowel incontinence, and one resident’s non-pressure skin conditions. An inspector found that there was no documented evidence of an adequately designed care plan for the resident with incontinence, and that a nurse manager interviewed during an inspection said she did not know why a care plan was not in place. Similarly, the Department of Health found no documented evidence of an adequately designed care plan for a resident’s surgical wound; although a nurse manager attested during an interview that she was responsible for the implementation of care plans, she could not identify the care plan for the surgical wound during a review of the individual’s chart.

January 2, 2020

St. Cabrini Nursing Home Cited for Pressure Ulcers, Abuse

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

St. Cabrini Nursing Home in Dobbs Ferry, New York received 45 citations for violations of public health law between 2015 and 2019, according to state records accessed on November 2, 2019. The citations were issued by the New York State Department of Health, the public entity responsible for enforcing nursing home safety standards, and resulted from six inspections by state surveyors. The violations described by the Department of Health include the following:

1. The nursing home did not ensure the competency of nursing staff. A citation issued in April 2019 described St. Cabrini Nursing Home’s failure to ensure a Certified Nursing Assistant “demonstrated competency in dealing with a confrontational/difficult situation involving the CNA and one resident reviewed for abuse.” Section 483.35 of the Federal Code requires that nursing staff have “appropriate competencies and skills sets to provide nursing and related services to assure resident safety and attain or maintain the highest practicable… well-being of each resident.” In this instance, however, authorities found that the CNA did not properly “communicate or respond” to the conduct of the resident in question, so as to keep circumstances from escalating. The Department of Health’s findings go on to describe a confrontation between two roommates that led to the CNA pushing the resident’s face, which the CNA denied. The CNA was suspended following this incident and later told authorities that “she could have spoken to the resident using different words to be less confrontational.”

December 28, 2019

Queens ‘Pill Mill’ Doctor Pleads Guilty in Deaths of Three Patients

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

A disgraced doctor pleaded guilty to three charges of manslaughter last week in Queens, according to The New York Daily News, Indicted on felony charges last year, Dr. Lawrence Choy ran a ‘pill mill’ out of his Queens office from 2012 to 2016. The former doctor routinely prescribed the so-called ‘Holy Trinity’ of drugs to his patients – an opioid, a benzodiazepine, and a muscle relaxer. All three medications are both extremely addictive and extremely dangerous because of their ability to suppress breathing and cause an overdose. Tragically, Dr. Choy’s reckless prescribing habits caused three of his patients to fatally overdose.

After the deaths of his patients, Dr. Choy closed his medical practice and fled to Wyoming. The long-distance move did not matter to federal authorities who charged Dr. Choy with 231 crimes last year in a complaint detailing the doctor’s recklessness and indifference to his patient’s suffering. According to prosecutors, Choy’s pill mill in Queens was popular across the entire northeast – patients from New Jersey and Pennsylvania routinely made the trip just to visit Choy. According to federal prosecutors, Choy began doling out oxycodone prescriptions beginning in 2012 when Choy received a tax bill for more than $1 million. Once word got out that Choy would exchange prescriptions for cash, addicts would travel to the Queens doctor to get their fix and drug dealers would travel to get their supply. A single oxycodone pill prescribed by Choy could be sold for $30 on the street, less than the cost of a month’s prescription without insurance.

December 26, 2019

Doctor Operates on the Wrong Eye

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

An ophthalmologist is facing a lawsuit and revocation of his medical license after operating on the wrong eye. The Chicago woman, Sutton Dryfhout, says she came in for a routine cyst removal surgery and experienced a living nightmare. According to Dryfhout, Dr. Benjamin Ticho realized his mistake after the surgery when Dryfhout was already in post-operative care. Amazingly, the doctor chose to attempt surgery on the correct eye – with Dryfhout no longer under anesthesia. The lawsuit filed by Dryfhout says Dr. Ticho came into the recovery room and told a nurse that he “forgot something” and then asked them to hold down the patient while he attempted to operate on her left eye. The nurse allegedly complied.

Speaking to New York Daily News, Dryfhout said she screamed and yelled for Dr. Ticho to stop and that she could “[feel] surgical instruments including a needle and scissors going into her eye and could feel burning from a cautery pen being used on her eye.” Dryfhout also alleges the ophthalmologist did not follow proper hygiene protocols by using unsterile equipment and performing the entire operation without gloves. After the impromptu surgery on the correct eye ended because of Dryfhout’s screams for help, Dr. Ticho allegedly went to the patient’s medical records and consent forms and changed all references to performing surgery on her “left eye” to her “right eye.”

December 23, 2019

New Yorkers Sue Doctor for ‘IVF Fertilization Mix-up’

by Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan, PLLC

Two New Yorkers sued their doctor and fertilization clinic after the alleged medical malpractice caused a tragic mix-up involving three sets of angry parents across the country. According to CBS New York, Annie and Ashot Manukyan went to CHA Fertility Center in Los Angeles for in-vitro fertilization treatments. After the treatment, the New York couple did not become pregnant. Unfortunately, that is because their genetic material was used to impregnate another couple in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles couple actually became pregnant with twins who they believed was their child. Unfortunately, the couple was carrying the child of the Manukyans and another Los Angeles couple. The parents found out at birth of the mix-up when one of their children was a different race than the parents.

The Manukyan’s were immediately notified and because the birth parents wanted to keep the child, they had to sue in New York courts to have their genetic child brought to them. In a recording released by the attorneys for the Manukyan’s, the genetic mother broke down crying when she discussed her heartbreak over not carrying and delivering her own child. The New York judges ruled in favor of the birth parents and the child is now living in New York.