Verdicts
SUPREME COURT, ULSTER COUNTY
The plaintiff alleged that hospital staff committed malpractice by failing to provide necessary emergency treatment for a newborn who ultimately was diagnosed with extensive brain damage, developmental delays and severe seizure disorder. The plaintiff specifically claimed that hospital staff failed to timely and correctly treat the newborn’s low blood oxygen levels and low blood sugar levels after delivery of the baby. The defense position was that the brain damage occurred in utero and that the hypoxia, which was related to persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn, was identified and treated promptly. The defense also asserted that hospital staff promptly and appropriately treated the hypoglycemia. Result: Defense verdict on liability with respect to the hypoxia and on causation with respect to the hypoglycemia. Trial attorney for the hospital: Robert Irving Miller
SUPREME COURT, COLUMBIA COUNTY
The 12 year old female plaintiff was treated by the defendant in the emergency room following an automobile accident resulting in a "seat belt sign" on her abdomen. After several hours of observation the child was discharged and vomited in the hospital parking lot. Upon her return she was seen by a non-party surgeon who diagnosed intra-abdominal bleeding via a CT scan and three hours later performed the first of two laparotomies to remove two thirds of the small intestine, including the jejunum, and one half of the colon. The plaintiff claimed the defendant should have ordered an abdominal CT scan, while the defense argued that the child was asymptomatic in the emergency department and earlier diagnosis of the abdominal bleed would not have affected the outcome. Result: Defense Verdict.. Trial counsel for the physician: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, ORANGE COUNTY
The plaintiff alleged that the defendant pediatrician negligently failed to treat severe metabolic acidosis in a newborn, thereby causing permanent and debilitating brain damage, cerebral palsy and mental retardation. Result: Defense Verdict after a three week trial. Trial counsel for the pediatrician: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, ULSTER COUNTY
The 39 year old female plaintiff claimed to have sustained traumatic carpal tunnel syndrome, ulnar nerve neuropathy and a partial rotator cuff tear in her dominant upper extremity, as well as cervical injury and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of an automobile accident whereby the defendant's vehicle turned left in front of her. She underwent a carpal tunnel release, ulnar nerve transposition and shoulder arthroscopy. The defense conceded liability and tried damages only. The defense experts testified that the carpal tunnel syndrome was minor, pre-existing and caused by prolonged driving, while the other injuries were unrelated to the accident and not "serious" under the no-fault statutes. Demand: $800,000. Amount asked of jury: $2 million. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the defense: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, OSTEGO COUNTY
The plaintiff contended that the defendant physicians failed to recognize signs of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolus prior to the death of the plaintiff's decedent due to a pulmonary embolism. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for defendant internist: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, ULSTER COUNTY
In this three week trial the plaintiff alleged that the defendant emergency room physician and physician's assistant had failed to diagnose and treat a ruptured arteriovenous malformation in her brain on an emergency room visit after she fell off her boat and was submerged for a short time. The defense contended that the plaintiff had no neurological signs, symptoms or complaints while under the care of the defendants, and that her problem didn't develop until after she left their emergency room. The next day she went to a different emergency room where she gave a history of her symptoms beginning after she had left the defendants' care. Demand: $950,000. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the physician and physician's assistant: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, DUTCHESS COUNTY
In a six day trial, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant physicians, an internist and a rheumatologist, negligently failed to detect signs and symptoms of lung cancer, failed to obtain a chest x-ray when indicated, and failed to prevent metastasis to the brain. Demand: $850,000. Amount asked of jury: $2,000,000. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for all defendants: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, DUTCHESS COUNTY
In a wrongful death action, the plaintiff claimed that the defendant physicians had failed to diagnose myocarditis secondary to staphylococcus aureus septicemia in her nineteen year old son, who expired within several days. The treatment records of the defendant emergency medicine specialist were missing, and the court gave a missing records charge. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for defendant emergency medicine specialist: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, WESTCHESTER COUNTY
In a seventeen day trial, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant pediatricians improperly treated hypoxia and acidosis of the newborn and allegedly failed to recognize or treat neonatal seizures. The other defendants settled before trial. Demand: $700,000. Amount suggested to jury by plaintiff's attorney: $10,000,000. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the pediatricians: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, ORANGE COUNTY
The plaintiff alleged that the defendant orthopedic surgeon had improperly reduced her intertrochanteric hip fracture which resulted in a one inch shortening of the leg, and that the defendant hospital was negligent in leaving a box of surgical gloves on a corridor railing, causing her to fall in the corridor and reinjure the hip. Both the plaintiff's expert and the hospital's expert were critical of the orthopedic surgeon's initial reduction and fixation and subsequent treatment of the hip. The surgeon's expert used a goniometer to show that the initial reduction was within acceptable limits. Demand: $350,000. Result: Defense Verdict for the orthopedic surgeon; plaintiff's verdict against the hospital in the amount of $100,000. Trial counsel for the orthopedic surgeon: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, DUTCHESS COUNTY
In a medical malpractice action, the plaintiff pleaded numerous departures by hospital personnel in connection with the post-operative treatment of a patient who allegedly sustained peritonitis and other complications following a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Result: Directed verdict in favor of the defendant hospital at the conclusion of the plaintiff's case. Trial counsel for the hospital: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, ORANGE COUNTY
The defendant orthopedic surgeon was alleged to have improperly reduced open, segmental fractures of the distal tibia and fibula, and to have failed to properly treat a refracture and angulation of the fracture fragments as a result of which the plaintiff, a thirty five year old truck driver, spent nine months in an Ilizarov external fixator. The defense was that the plaintiff's initial reduction was acceptable, as was the treatment of the complication. Demand: $700,000. Amount asked of jury $950,000. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the orthopedic surgeon: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, ORANGE COUNTY
The plaintiff's fractured distal tibia and fibula were reduced by the defendant orthopedic surgeon, who according to the plaintiff's expert, failed to achieve proper alignment, resulting in an osteotomy, realignment of the ankle joint, the onset of osteoarthritis, and need for future ankle fusion. The subsequent treating surgeon, however, testified that although he performed an osteotomy, he did not realign the bones. The defense argued that the degenerative arthritis resulted from the initial crush injuries to the cartilage, as confirmed by CT scan. Demand: $750,000. Amount asked of jury: $350,000. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the orthopedic surgeon: Sarah E. Sholes.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
The plaintiff alleged that a physician employee of an HMO failed to recognize the plaintiff's history of alleged gastric disease and caused an ulcer and severe gastrointestinal hemorrhage by prescribing the wrong medication for the treatment of the plaintiff's arthritis. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for defendant HMO: Robert Irving Miller
SUPREME COURT, DUTCHESS COUNTY
The plaintiff claimed that just prior to cataract surgery by the non-party ophthalmologist the globe of his right eye was perforated by a needle that the defendant anesthesiologist used to deliver local anesthesia, resulting in a macular hole and the loss of central vision in that eye. The defense claimed that the vision loss was secondary to age related macular degeneration, which had been diagnosed in the other eye. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the anesthesiologist: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, GREEN COUNTY
In a seven day trial, the plaintiff x-ray technician alleged that he sustained a severe electrical shock as the result of alleged defects in and improper installation of an x-ray machine in a hospital. The defendants, the manufacturer and service company of the x-ray machine, impleaded the hospital and alleged that the shock, if it occurred, was due to the hospital's negligent maintenance of the machine by the hospital. Demand: $300,000. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the third party defendant hospital: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, BRONX COUNTY
The plaintiff claimed that she sustained a dislocated hip, peroneal nerve palsy, foot drop, the amputation of two toes and the inability to live independently as a result of the defendant nursing home's negligence in caring for her after she had been treated at a non-party hospital for a fractured hip. The defense contended that the nursing home had followed appropriate procedures, the plaintiff was non- compliant with post-fracture protocols, and that the nerve damage occurred not at the nursing home, but in the hospital. The treating orthopedic surgeons had settled before trial. Demand: $200,000. Amount asked of jury: $2.1 million. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the nursing home: Sarah E. Sholes
SUPREME COURT, BRONX COUNTY
In a two and a half week trial, the plaintiff alleged negligence against a nursing home and its staff in connection with severe injuries and death sustained by his mother, a resident at the nursing home, after she suffered serious and extensive burns while smoking a cigarette in a lounge at the nursing home. Demand: $600,000. Result: Defense Verdict on causation. Trial counsel for the nursing home: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, ORANGE COUNTY
The defendant orthopedic surgeon performed a closed reduction and casting of the plaintiff's Colles fracture. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant should have performed an open reduction after a loss of position of the fracture fragments, as a result of which he required several open procedures and was left with a malunion, radial shortening, and diminished use of the forearm. The defense was that the initial treatment was appropriate and the subsequent treatment by a Florida orthopedist was ill-advised and contributed to the poor outcome. Demand: $500,000. Amount asked of jury: $500,000. Result: Defense Verdict. Trial counsel for the orthopedic surgeon: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, DUTCHESS COUNTY
The plaintiff alleged that she fell and sustained a fractured hip and subsequently required two total hip replacements due to the defendant hospital's negligence in failing to clean a liquid spill from the floor. The defense denied notice of the spill and argued that when wet, the floor was not excessively slippery. Demand: $500,000. Result: Defense Verdict on liability. The case settled pursuant to a high-low agreement. Trial counsel for the hospital: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, DUTCHESS COUNTY
The plaintiff visitor had been asked to leave the defendant nursing home at which his father was a resident. When the plaintiff refused to leave the premises, the State Police were called and arrested the plaintiff. At trial, the plaintiff alleged that he had been falsely arrested by the nursing home because he was asked to leave the facility without any reason or justification. Result: Defense Verdict on causation. Trial counsel for the nursing home: Robert Irving Miller.
SUPREME COURT, ULSTER COUNTY
This wrongful death action arose out of a motor vehicle accident wherein the decedent fractured a cervical vertebra and was placed in a halo at the defendant hospital. The plaintiff claimed that due to nursing negligence, the patient got out of bed despite a Posey restraint, fell, refractured his neck and eventually expired. The plaintiff also sued the contractors who were working on the roadway where the accident occurred. Amount asked of jury: $500,000. Result: Defense Verdict for all defendants. Trial counsel for the hospital: Sarah E. Sholes.
SUPREME COURT, DUTCHESS COUNTY
In a personal injury action based on premises liability, the plaintiff alleged that she fell and sustained a fractured shoulder and subsequently developed paraplegia as a result of the negligence of the defendants. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant nursing home created a hazardous and dangerous condition by closing the main exit and requiring visitors, such as the elderly plaintiff, to walk a longer distance around the building to get back to their cars. On our summary judgment motion, the court dismissed the plaintiff's claims related to paraplegia, the defense having proved that the paraplegia was due to a medical condition unrelated to the plaintiff's fall. The case went to trial on the issue of negligence, as the plaintiff continued to seek damages in connection with the fractured shoulder. Plaintiff's demand before jury deliberation on negligence: $150,000. Result: Defense Verdict on the issue of negligence. Counsel for the defendant nursing home on the summary judgment motion and at trial: Robert Irving Miller.
United States District Court, Southern District of New York
The plaintiff's decedent, a dentist, was brought to the defendant hospital after a motorcycle accident. The plaintiff alleged wrongful death, claiming that the hospital, emergency physicians and consulting physicians committed malpractice in permitting the seriously injured patient to remain in the emergency department five hours before transferring him to a trauma center. Result: Defense verdict for all defendants. Trial Counsel for hospital and emergency physician: Robert Irving Miller
Supreme Court, Sullivan County
The plaintiff alleged failure by radiologist to detect abnormalities and testicular cyst in a scrotal sonogram of 4 year old patient. A testicular cyst was diagnosed two years later, when it was found to have destroyed the testicle. The condition required removal of the testicle. The plaintiff claimed that earlier detection and treatment of the cyst would have avoided loss of the testicle. Result: Defense verdict. (The parent's individual claims and claims for alleged medical expenses and special damages were dismissed on summary judgment motion prior to trial.) Trial Counsel for the radiologist: Robert Irving Miller