Page 20 - Verdicts and Settlements Hall of Fame: Medical Malpractice

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE
VERDICT & SETTLEMENTS
HALL OF FAME

#11
Kahn and Shepard. That triggered osmotic demyelination syndrome,
a condition where fatty insulating sheaths that surround neurons

in the brain stem are damaged.
Case: Manganiello V. Ahmed

Manganiello was eventually taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, in Attorney: Robert Winters

Suffern, and inally to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, Firm: Fein, Such, Kahn & Shepard, P.C.
where a physician diagnosed the problem.
Verdict: $33,745,000

Winters argued that his client’s sodium levels should have been
raised much more gradually to avoid osmotic demyelination, a known
By Phil Albinus
risk in treating low sodium. The hospital’s attorney maintained that

Manganiello’s low sodium levels were brought about by encephali-
A former teacher and mother of ive from New Jersey along with tis. Winters countered that medical tests did not ind encephalitis.
her husband were awarded $33.7 million by a state Supreme Court

jury in Orange County in a medical malpractice case.
Following her hospitalization and through the trial, Manganiello
underwent therapy at a supported living facility, returning to her
Diane Manganiello, 42, went to Bon Secours Community Hospital, home Montague, N.J., on weekends. During this time she continued to

in Port Jervis, N.Y. on Jan. 3, 2004 with worsening lu-like symptoms. have trouble speaking, communicating mostly through single words,
Though she improved after initial treatment, by the next day she hand gestures, facial expressions and written notes. Additionally,
had deteriorated. She had trouble speaking, weakness in her arms she needs a walker to get around.

and legs, and eventually fell into a coma.
In issuing the $33.7 million award, the jury found Bon Secours
In her suit, Manganiello charged that hospital staff mishandled her Community Hospital’s physician who treated Manganiello, Dr. Moi-

case after medical tests showed she had very low levels of sodium. nuddin Ahmed and nurse Rose Aumick deviated from the accepted
The hospital failed to recognize the patient was suffering from a standards of medical care. Ahmed was found to be 60 percent liable
chronic condition and instead administered too much of a saline and Aumick was determined to be 40 percent liable.

solution, according to her attorney Robert Winters of Fein, Such,

#12
The damage has been done. The plaintiff’s expert neurologist
opined that the jaundice caused a toxic buildup of bilirubin and that
his doctors and the hospital staff departed from accepted standards
Case:
of medical care.
Sence v. Atoynatan

“This was a very important case because we had again an extremely Attorney: homas A. Moore

damaged child but this time with the area of the brain called the Firm: Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore
basal ganglia, an area that is often damaged,” said Thomas A. Moore,
the attorney for Jaelin’s family. Jaelin sustained kernicterus, a toxic Verdict: $24,813,260

condition caused by the buildup of bilirubin. He has cerebral palsy
By Phil Albinus
and he cannot control his limbs or walk. He also requires the pres-
ence of an aide and will never be able to work. Although the plaintiff’s

expert neurologist opined that the condition will not signiicantly
A seemingly normal pregnancy and delivery. A baby discharged shorten the boy’s life, the defense’s expert neurologist estimated
after one day. And then tragedy.
that Jaelin will live until the age of 25.

Jaelin Sence, a three-day old baby boy, was transported to a The trial went on for 12 days but the jury deliberated for less
hospital where doctors observed a yellowish discoloration of his than three. The jury found that the doctor and the staff of New York

skin and eyes. They diagnosed that the newborn was suffering from Methodist Hospital departed from accepted medical standards of
hyperbilirubinemia, a severe form of jaundice. Although Jaelin under- medical care. “That was a very strong case but they put up a vigorous
went immediate treatment, the jaundice had already caused severe defense,” said Moore, who said his passion for these injured infant

brain damage and Jaelin’s mother contended that her son’s jaundice cases stems from his role as a father. “Having your own children
was misdiagnosed by the staff of New York Methodist Hospital. She gives you a sense of being blessed and how terrible and tragic it
claimed that after informing a nurse of her son’s skin coloration, the is to have a child damaged in any way, and especially signiicantly

nurse did not notice the abnormality.
impaired. Your empathy deepens exponentially.”

18 November 2014