Page 23 - Verdicts and Settlements Hall of Fame: Medical Malpractice

#15
preventing his client’s paralysis. Defense counsel contended that
Figueroa’s symptoms did not clearly suggest that he had an abscess
Case:
on his spine, until the paralysis had occurred.
Figueroa v. Southern

Wilkens said there was additional evidence that should have Attorney: James Wilkens and Edward G. Bithorn

pointed the doctors in the direction of the spinal abscess: numb- Firm: Dufy & Dufy; Uniondale, NY
ness of Figueroa’s arms, hands and dificulty breathing. “The nurses’
notes continued to show from the beginning of admission, signs Verdict: 19,792,000

and symptoms consistent with a spinal abscess and the doctors
never took note.”

By Len Maniace
Figueroa’s paralysis required him to live in a residential-care facil-
ity and his attorney contended at trial that he would need lifelong
A state Supreme Court jury in the Bronx awarded $19.8 million medicinal and occupational therapy. Monteiore Medical Center’s

in damages in the case of a radiology technician who entered Mon- defense counsel maintained that Figueroa could return home.
teiore Medical Center with fever and back pain and then suffered
the permanent paralysis of his legs.
Figueroa sought recovery of the cost of his future medicinal and

occupational therapy, the cost of his future medical equipment and
Doctors considered a series of ailments after Wilfredo Figueroa Jr., supplies, his remaining future medical expenses, his past and future
53, entered the hospital on Sept. 22, 2004. After inding an abnormally lost earnings, and damages for his past and future pain and suffer-

high level of white blood cells, they considered an abnormality of the ing. His wife sought recovery of damages for her loss of services.
liver, and Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disorder. Finally
an MRI scan on Oct. 4, showed an abscess of his spine’s cervical In its verdict the jury found that a CT scan or an MRI scan should

region. The abscess was surgically removed.
have been performed before Oct. 2. The case was eventually settled
against Monteiore Medical Center for approximately $9 million in
Figueroa’s attorney James Wilkens contended that the spinal damages, Wilkens said.

abscess should have been found earlier with a CT or MRI scan,

#16
she signed another document stating that she had refused medical
treatment. With a kidney stone “if you get a fever, all bets are off,”
said her attorney Edward Sanocki. “The EMS crew thought it was
Case:
the meds and maybe they thought she was trying to get drugs.”
Mullings v. Yarde

An hour later, she returned to Brooklyn Hospital Center where Attorney: Ira M. Newman and Edward Sanocki

doctors determined that she was suffering septic shock. This was Firm: Sanocki, Newman & Turret
due to the kidney stone blocking and forcing back the urine into
Mulling’s system.
Verdict: $17,900,000

By Phil Albinus
Things soon escalated for the young woman. According to Sanocki,
Mullings’ blood started to coagulate in her extremities and this forced

the doctors to perform a bilateral amputations on her hands and
As if the incredible pain and discom-
feet. “Also her eyesight became
fort of a kidney stone were not enough,
extremely impaired. She’s not THE EMS CREW NOTED THAT SHE WAS NOT

things can escalate if not properly treat-
blind but there you have a EXHIBITING ABNORMAL VITAL SIGNS AND SHE
ed in time. This is what happened to
woman who is 32 when this
Tabitha Mullings, a 32 year-old ofice
happens,” said Sanocki. In her SIGNED ANOTHER DOCUMENT STATING THAT

manager who presented to the Brooklyn
suit Mullings claimed that her SHE HAD REFUSED MEDICAL TREATMENT.
Hospital Center with severe back and
sepsis could have been pre-
abdomen pain on September 14, 2008.
vented if she had received a

Diagnosing a kidney stone, doctors sent her home with Percocet for prompt response to her kidney stone.
the pain and instructions to return if she developed a fever.
The malpractice suit did not go to trial, The city agreed to pay

Early the next morning, Mulling’s pain persisted and her boyfriend $8.5 million; The Brooklyn Hospital Center agreed to pay $5 million
called an ambulance. The EMS crew noted that she suffered a fever and the doctors insurers agreed to pay a total of $4.4 million. “We
and prescribed Tylenol. Ten hours later she summoned another had the picked the jury and settled. Believe me, we were waiting

ambulance and reported numbness in her lips and toes. The EMS for them. They would have been killed and no way that they could
crew noted that she was not exhibiting abnormal vital signs and
justify their inactions,” said Sanocki.

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