Paraplegia

Published on: July 1, 2024

Anesthesiologist accused of failing to maintain adequate anesthesia levels. Cucalon v. Staten Island Univ. Hosp., 2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 32590 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2015)

by Stephen Bilkis

Cucalon v. Staten Island Univ. Hosp is a medical malpractice case that started off with the patient being diagnosed with a herniated disc and after treatment ending up with paraplegia. A herniated disc, also known as a slipped disc or ruptured disc, occurs when the soft inner core of a spinal disc pushes through a crack in the tougher outer layer. When a disc herniates, the inner core (nucleus pulposus) can press on nearby nerves or the spinal cord, causing pain, numbness, or weakness in the area of the body where the affected nerve travels. Symptoms can vary depending on the location of the herniated disc and the amount of pressure it puts on surrounding structures.

Paraplegia is a condition characterized by impairment or loss of movement and sensation in the lower half of the body, including both legs and often the lower trunk. It results from damage to the spinal cord, typically at the thoracic (chest) level or below. This damage disrupts the communication between the brain and the parts of the body below the injury site, leading to paralysis. Paraplegia is usually caused by traumatic injuries such as spinal cord trauma from accidents, falls, or sports injuries. However, it can also be caused by medical malpractice. That plaintiff in this case alleges that his paraplegia was due to mistakes made by the anesthesiologist.

Background Facts

Published on: July 1, 2024

Expert testimony conflicted on the adequacy of neurological care provided. Arrington v. Okesanya, 2022 N.Y. Slip Op. 30116 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2022)

by Stephen Bilkis

In Arrington v. Okesanya, the defendant moved for summary judgment under CPLR § 3212. The motion sought dismissal of the plaintiff’s medical malpractice complaint, arguing that Dr. Valsamis did not deviate from accepted medical practice during Reyes Pellot Jr.’s hospitalization at Brooklyn Hospital Center (“TBHC”) in 2014.

In a medical malpractice case, summary judgment dismissing the case requires the defendant to demonstrate convincingly that there was no departure from accepted medical practice or that any such departure did not proximately cause the plaintiff’s injuries. If the plaintiff presents evidence contradicting the defendant’s assertions, the court must carefully weigh the merits of both sides before reaching a decision. However, if the plaintiff presents evidence contradicting the defendant’s assertions, the court will likely deny summary judgment and leave it up to the jury to determine which argument is stronger.

Background Facts

Published on: June 30, 2024

Delayed aortic transection surgery allegedly led to paraplegia. Lee v. Westchester Cnty. Health Care Corp., 219 A.D.3d 1509 (N.Y. App. Div. 2023)

by Stephen Bilkis

In a case concerning alleged medical malpractice, the Supreme Court of Westchester County ruled on a motion for summary judgment involving issues surrounding the treatment of a patient following a car accident. A motion for summary judgment to dismiss a medical malpractice lawsuit is a legal maneuver where the defendant argues that the plaintiff’s case lacks merit based on undisputed facts and legal principles. It aims to resolve the case without a full trial by demonstrating that there are no genuine issues of material fact and that the defendant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. This motion is common in medical malpractice cases because it allows defendants to challenge the sufficiency of the plaintiff’s evidence early in the litigation process, potentially saving time and resources by avoiding a lengthy trial if the court agrees with their arguments.

Background Facts

Following a car accident in the early morning hours of August 19, 2014, the plaintiff was transported to Westchester Medical Center by ambulance. There he was attended to by several medical professionals. The plaintiff was diagnosed with an aortic transection around 2:45 a.m., though he remained hemodynamically stable initially. Due to concerns over potential complications, the attending cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Ramin Malekan, delayed surgical intervention until around 5:30 a.m. Subsequently, the plaintiff experienced a critical deterioration in blood flow to his lower extremities, prompting Malekan to proceed with aortic transection repair. Surgery commenced at 9:52 a.m., successfully addressing the aortic injury but resulting in the plaintiff’s permanent paraplegia.

Published on: December 17, 2012

A man was born with a chromosomal condition

by Stephen Bilkis

A man was born with a chromosomal condition and began receiving medical assistance from the State’s social services. He subsequently suffered an injury during his corrective spinal injury surgery, which resulted in his partial paralysis. A medical malpractice action was commenced by the man’s sister on his behalf against the hospital and several doctors where the surgery was performed. The man continued to receive medical assistance from the State’s social services and they filed a lien for recovery from any award made in the medical malpractice action, for such assistance for which the third-party offender was found to be liable.

Consequently, the parties to the medical malpractice action reached a settlement. Based upon the proposed settlement, the state’s social service agreed to accept the sum of $102,423.56 to settle the lien. The amount necessary to settle the medical claim was premised on a letter from the social services stating that it would accept that amount on the lien against the proceeds of the personal injury lawsuit, based on the proposed settlement of the lawsuit for the sum of $1,600,000. The letter further provided that the state’s social services reserved the right to collect any unpaid balance of the lien if the man reached a further settlement that provided additional proceeds or if he should receive funds from another source such as the lottery.

The settlement of the medical malpractice action was approved by the Supreme Court with the direction that payment made to the state’s social service in the amount of $102,423.56, in full satisfaction of the lien to the date of the order.

Published on: December 7, 2012

The complainant man went to the emergency room of a hospital

by Stephen Bilkis

The Long Island complainant man went to the emergency room of a hospital complaining of weakness in his lower extremities and severe lower back pain. He had gone to the emergency room five days earlier complaining of left hip and back pain, and was sent home with pain medication. The pain persisted, and he began experiencing weakness in his legs, twice falling or nearly falling when his legs buckled. He was able to walk, though with difficulty. During his emergency room visit, radiographic tests, including a myelogram, were ordered, and the man was admitted to the hospital.

On the morning of 25 June 1994, the accused Manhattan anesthesiologist explained to the complainant man that he would need to administer a caudal block rather than general anesthesia for the myelogram because the man needed to be awake during the test. The radiologist performed the myelogram around 3:00 p.m. that day. The next morning, the man discovered he felt no pain, was numb from his hips down, and could not move his legs. The anesthesiologist and the nursing staff blamed the numbness and inability to move on the anesthesia, telling the man it had not yet worn off. The man thought this was strange because, in his experience, it usually took only four to five hours for the effects of anesthesia to wear off. He thought either something had gone wrong or his condition was worse than the doctors originally thought.

The myelogram revealed massive disc herniation causing spinal injury, and the accused man’s attending physician and neurologist advised the man that he urgently needed surgery. The neurologist performed a laminectomy and discectomy. However, the man remained paralyzed following the surgery.

Published on: May 31, 2012

$7.6 Million Spinal Injury Awarded to Teen Paralyzed by Radiation Maltreatment

by Stephen Bilkis

A teenager’s spinal cordwas destroyed in 1978 after she received a lethal dose of radiation at a hospital she was receiving cancer treatment from. She was awarded $7.6 million by a jury.

Some believed at the time that it was the single, largest payment awarded in a malpractice suit in the U.S. After the trial, the 18-year-old said that the jury was full of “wonderful people and now I have a chance for my life.”

The girl’s lawyers said that most of the money was going to have to go toward medical payments.

Published on: May 21, 2012

Accidental Bombing on U.S. Soil Leaves Family Devastated, 36 Years Ago

by Stephen Bilkis

“We heard the plane coming,” the plaintiff recalled. “You know when the bomb bays doors open, the bombs start to whistle. And when you hear the whistling, you know something’s going to be a bustin’.”

It took 36 years, but that man was finally compensated for the injury he received during the accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down in 1944 when the man’s spinal cord was severed by shrapnel. An errant bomber dropped 36 fragmentation bombs on his family’s home and land, missing his target by 10 miles.

He clearly remembers what the incoming bombs sounded like. He also remembers running. He ran almost to the front porch of his uncle’s farmhouse. Those steps proved to be his last steps – ever, taken at 12 years of age.

Published on: April 28, 2012

New Scientific Model May Help Spinal Cord Injury Patients and Physicians

by Stephen Bilkis

A new scientific model may help spinal cord injury specialists more quickly determine whether a patient has a good chance of walking again before surgery and physical therapy. Current models include extensive tests that may not be as conclusive. The new model was developed in the Netherlands and is based on many different studies and findings by experts in the area of spinal injury.

Components of this model include a patients’ age, range of current motor skills, and sensitivity to touch. Older tests, such as the AIS grading system, take much longer to perform and may not be as accurate. The researchers who compiled the information to create the new model claim specialists need to be experienced in performing physical examinations of those with spinal injuries in order to make a proper diagnosis using the components in the model. Many specialists in Staten Island and Westchester have the ability to perform these examinations and should be able to tell if a patient will be able to walk again.

This study about the new model was published in The Lancet. Many new studies are available at different times during the year and provide researchers around the world with new and useful information. Being able to predict quickly whether a patient will be able to walk again may prevent painful and unnecessary surgery or a grueling physical therapy regime that could cause additional injury. This may also lower medical care costs by allowing patients to leave the hospital earlier or reduce medications prescribed if additional surgery is not necessary to repair the spinal cord.

Published on: February 17, 2012

School Administrator Worried about Football Injury Award

by Stephen Bilkis

In 1982 jury, in Seattle, Washington, awarded $6.3 million to a high school football player who sustained serious spinal injuries while playing for the school’s team.

That judgment worried one school official. He worried that school boards across the country would be prompted to review the benefits of sports programs unfairly against the possible costs of lawsuits. Programs that could lead to injury, he argued, could possibly be unnecessarily cut.

At the time of the settlement, the claimant was 21 years old.

Published on: February 11, 2012

Paralyzed Rutgers Player Comes Home

by Stephen Bilkis

The family of paralyzed Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand has informed the school that he has been released from the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and will live with his aunt in Jackson.

LeGrand was paralyzed from the shoulders down when he suffered a spinal cord injurywhile making at tackle in a game on October 16th, 2010 against Army. He spent the time from November 8 until the end of March 2011 recuperating.

“This is an exciting day for me to return to living with family,” LeGrand said in a statement. “My family and I can’t thank Kessler enough for all the tremendous care and support I received as I continue rehab from my injury. It has meant so much to me to receive so many well wishes and prayers from everyone.”