South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

A fifty-six year old women was led to believe she had breast cancer for more than a year and underwent harsh radiation treatments before she was told a medical lab mixed up her biopsy tests with another woman’s.

Lynn Yurosko has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the medical laboratory Quest Diagnostic, four doctors, and the Nassau Radiologic Group seeking compensation for her damages including unnecessary pain and suffering, medical bills, and more.

According to the suit, the confusion occurred when a biopsy sample taken from Yurosko in 2004 was inadvertently switched with the results of another women’s test. Yurosko discovered the mistake when her doctor was concerned that samples of her breast tissue retrieved during radiation therapy did not indicate she had cancer.

During that time, the medical lab sent Yurosko’s doctor a letter asking him to “please disregard” the breast cancer diagnosis as it was the result of a mix-up.

The doctor of the other women whose test results were switched with Yurosko was notified of the medical error, but he had already requested another test for his patient.

Yurosko, who has no cancer, has raised concerns about the potential side effect linked to radiation therapy. Studies have found that patients who undergo radiation treatments have an increased chance of developing heart and lung problems.

A Circuit Court jury awarded $375,000 yesterday to three city residents who had sued the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, alleging that mold in their apartment building on Homewood Avenue created an unsafe living environment, according to court documents and their attorney.

The lawsuit, filed in February 2005, said that the apartments in a converted schoolhouse in the East Baltimore-Midway neighborhood had water leaks, standing water and mold since the late 1990s. The suit sought $3.2 million for residents Louise Bills, Mary Roy and Johnnie Pratt.

The building in the 2200 block of Homewood Ave. was run by the housing authority for senior citizens and physically disabled tenants. Scott E. Nevin, an attorney who represents the plaintiffs, said problems with water leaks and mold were documented as early as 1998.

Nevin said that inspections by a private contracting company in 2003, 2004 and 2005 found “standing water and mold growth” that he said went untreated. Nevin said that in 2003, inspectors found the roof leaking in 14 places and 25 air-conditioning units not working.

Dave Tillman, spokesman for Baltimore’s Department of Housing and Community Development, said he could not comment on specifics of the case, but “we will be filing an appeal.”

On June 7, 1997, plaintiff Musa Sanyang, 41, a carpenter, was entering his apartment building at 1006 Gerard Ave., in the Bronx. As he entered the building’s elevator, he was attacked from behind by two unidentified assailants. A struggle ensued, and he was shot four times. There were no arrests made.Sanyang sued the building’s owner, 1006 Holding Corp., LLC. He alleged that the defendant negligently failed to provide proper security for the building’s occupants.Sanyang claimed that the locks to the front and side doors were broken and that the building’s superintendent was notified on multiple occasions. Sanyang’s security expert determined that the building’s security was inadequate and that it was a haven for criminals.

The defense claimed that it had repaired the locks on many occassions, but that the locks were constantly being broken. The defense also argued that the condition of the locks did not matter because the assailants followed Sanyang into the building. A nonparty witness that assisted Sanyang after he was shot claimed that Sanyang told her that the assailants “followed me in.”

The defense’s safety expert determined that the assailants would have been able to enter the building no matter what locks were on the doors.

Sanyang sustained four gunshot wounds: one head wound, one neck wound and two abdominal wounds. He was placed in an ambulance and transported to Jacobi Medical Center, in the Bronx. He underwent emergency surgery to remove the fragments and close the wounds, which was followed by a two-week-long hospitalization.

Sanyang also claimed that he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and developed a fear of strangers. Sanyang’s expert neurologist determined that Sanyang had a partial permanent disability in his neck and back and would require future surgery to remove bullet fragments from his cervical spine.

Sanyang’s gastrointestinal expert determined that Sanyang requires bowel surgery and had to alter his diet.

Sanyang’s vocational-rehabilitation expert estimated Sanyang’s past and future lost earnings at $800,000. He opined that he Sanyang experienced a loss of earnings because he could no longer work as a carpenter and had to work in a lesser capacity doing menial tasks, such as sweeping.

Sanyang claimed that he has permanent physical and emotional disabilities. He sought recovery of unspecified damages for his lost earnings and his past and future pain and suffering.

The defense did not contest the injuries. However, the defense’s vocational-rehabilitation expert determined that, given Sanyang’s experience and education, he could return to work in a sedentary capacity and equal his pre-accident earnings.

During the trial’s third day, the parties agreed to a $300,000 settlement.

A state medical organization on Wednesday came out strongly in support of the Louisiana physician accused of killing four critically ill patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.Louisiana’s attorney general said Dr. Anna Pou and two nurses at Memorial Medical Center injected a lethal cocktail of sedatives into the four bedridden patients after determining they were too ill to be moved. The trio was arrested and faces second-degree murder charges, pending the outcome of a New Orleans grand jury investigation.

“The Louisiana State Medical Society is confident that Dr. Pou performed courageously under the most challenging and horrific conditions and made decisions in the best interest of her patients,” President Dr. Floyd A. Buras said in a statement.

Speaking Sunday night on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Pou emphatically denied killing the patients.

“No, I did not murder those patients,” said Pou, who’s been practicing medicine for more than 15 years. “I’ve spent my entire life taking care of patients. I have no history of doing anything other than good for my patients.”

In a statement Wednesday, Attorney General Charles Foti said many hospitals were in trouble after the hurricane, which devastated the city on Aug. 29, 2005.

“However, this is the only hospital where doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and witnesses on the scene reported suspicious deaths of patients,” Foti’s statement said. “Many came forward and reported to us after witnessing events they believed were wrong and against ethical and legal standards.”

A call from a woman who said she was locked in the trunk of a car led to a chase in which the woman died and a person was arrested for investigation of homicide, officers said.Police said the episode began with a call from a cellular telephone late Wednesday evening in which a woman said she had been injured and was in a car trunk.

Officers arrived at the address she gave and saw a car leaving at a high rate of speed. In the ensuing chase, two patrol cars were slightly damaged, police said.

“The suspect vehicle became disabled, and the suspect fled on foot,” police spokesman Leroy Forsman said in a statement. “Officers gave chase and took the suspect into custody.”

A woman who was found in the trunk died after being transported to a Boise, Idaho, hospital.

Authorities did not immediately say if the person arrested was a man or a woman. They also did not identify the victim.

A jury ordered the son of Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan to pay more than $800,000 for causing a highway collision three years ago that left a woman with chronic pain.Nasir Farrakhan said he had accepted responsibility for the crash, but refused to pay Gladys Peterson’s medical bills because he contended her neck and back pain existed before the crash.

The federal jurors on Wednesday ordered Farrakhan to pay Peterson $448,838 in compensatory damages and her husband, Charles, $15,561, in compensatory damages. They also ordered $350,000 in punitive damages.

Farrakhan’s attorney, Shelice R. Tolbert, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Nasir Farrakhan did not take the stand during the trial. He had already pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness and had served 15 days of community service for his role in the accident.

The Petersons also sued Louis Farrakhan, the registered owner of the vehicle, but the suit filed in Indiana federal court was dropped for lack of jurisdiction.

The Nation of Islam emerged around the 1930s in the African-American community and mixed a message of black empowerment with Muslim traditions, but also adopted views that orthodox Muslims consider heretical, such as considering its longtime leader Elijah Muhammad a prophet and linking whites with evil.

After Muhammad’s death in 1975, many of the Nation of Islam’s followers turned to mainstream Islam, but Louis Farrakhan restarted the old NOI under his own leadership.

The elderly man in the emergency room was covered with bruises, some purple and others fading to yellow. Despite signs of dementia, he told the same story over and over: His wifes burly home health aide had beaten him. But the health aide and the wife insisted he had fallen. Now it was up to the members of Orange Countys Elder Abuse Forensic Center to decide which story was true.

As the man lay on a gurney, he was interviewed by a team from the center: a geriatrician, a social worker and an investigator from the sheriffs office. The bruises on the mans chest, they determined, were the result of being punched. There were bloody outlines of a shoe on the mans leg. His clear, consistent story, and cognitive tests, persuaded the prosecutor to charge the aide with a felony.

At the center here, public health and law enforcement officials are learning to speak the same language and using the same forensic techniques as those popularized on the three C.S.I. television series to diagnose elder abuse and neglect. For decades, the techniques have been the state-of-the-art approach for investigating child abuse and domestic violence. But elder abuse has lagged far behind, suffering from a lack of financing, research and data.

Now change is in the air, and forensic techniques are just one of many new initiatives nationwide to protect the elderly. Geriatricians at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, for example, review county autopsy reports looking for suspicious themes. Bank tellers at Wachovia branches nationwide are learning to detect irregular transactions in the accounts of elderly customers.

Congress is also expected to consider, before the October recess, the Elder Justice Act of 2006, which would create the first nationwide database on elder abuse, replacing inconsistent or unavailable data. The legislation, which has bipartisan support, also assigns a federal official to coordinate projects and technical assistance and helps replicate programs like Orange Countys.

The legislation moved from committee to the full Senate on a unanimous vote within days of a celebrity scandal involving elder abuse accusations against the son of Brooke Astor, 104, the grand dame of New York society. The accusations against Mrs. Astors son, Anthony D. Marshall, himself 82, include mismanagement of her fortune for his own enrichment and neglect as a result of cutting back on her care. Mr. Marshall has denied those accusations.

Mrs. Astors situation is not exceptional. She is a member of the fastest-growing segment of the American population, those 85 and older. Half in that age group suffer from dementia and are often incapable of informed consent. The fact that the elderly control 70 percent of the nations wealth makes them tempting targets for greedy relatives or swindlers.

Those are the circumstances that set the stage for most elder abuse, experts say. The most common form is physical neglect, like untended bedsores, dehydration or the reek of urine. A family member who is providing care, most often an adult child, is usually the guilty party. Greed is generally the motive, whether there is a multimillion-dollar inheritance or a monthly Social Security check at stake.

All this was well known to the assorted professionals in Orange County, but before the forensic center was established, each had to improvise without easy access to others expertise. A social worker might need a public guardian to sort out conflicting claims from adult children over who had power of attorney. The social worker might also need advice from a detective about securing evidence, but calls to colleagues often went unreturned for weeks, and there was likely to be no doctor to consult because few were trained to detect elder abuse.

Now, in Orange County, such professionals meet face-to-face at least once a week, with a doctor at the helm, and often speak daily.

Its a no-brainer, said Rebecca Guider, the director of adult services and assistance programs in Orange County. Almost every case benefits from this approach.

Some 6,000 cases of elder abuse are reported annually in Orange County. In California, 100,000 reports were filed in 2003, accounting for 20 percent of the 500,000 reports nationwide. But there is widespread agreement among professionals that those numbers may be low. In a 1996 study, only one in 14 cases of physical abuse and neglect were reported and one in 100 of financial exploitation.

In Orange County, Craig M. Cazares, a deputy district attorney, reviews about 120 cases a year that are considered potential crimes, twice the number before the creation of the forensic team. Half of the cases are prosecuted, Mr. Cazares said, with a 90 percent conviction rate including plea deals.

The team approach, he said, can lead to pitched battles because doctors and social workers dont understand that not everything they want to be criminal is criminal.

Nevertheless, Mr. Cazares added, we can make borderline cases better because of shared information and, most important, the medical expertise to assess physical injury and mental capacity.

Confidentiality laws prohibit outsiders at team meetings at the Elder Abuse Forensic Center. But in interviews, members discussed three cases, one involving neglect, one abuse and one financial exploitation.

In the neglect case a 60-year-old woman had been providing substandard care to her 96-year-old husband, who has heart disease and dementia and uses a wheelchair. After home visits by a physician, a social worker, a detective, a public guardian, a mental health expert and an array of outside social service agencies, no criminal charges were filed.

When the team took the case, reported by a neighbor, the husband had an open wound on his thigh from a kitchen accident and showed signs of malnourishment. But Dr. Lisa Gibbs said the wife had not intended harm. So we worked with her, educated her, sent in a lot of social services and she is trying to do a better job, Dr. Gibbs said.

In the abuse case, involving the elderly man in the emergency room, the home health aide first accepted a plea deal that would send him to jail for a year, but is now vacillating. If found guilty at trial, the aide could be sentenced to up to nine years in state prison.

The financial exploitation case, a classic sweetheart scam, ended when Jennifer Mitchell was sentenced to four years in a state prison and her husband, Anthony, an accessory, was given 12 months in the Orange County jail. Ms. Mitchell, described by investigators as an attractive young woman, was convicted of defrauding three elderly men of a total of $300,000 by feigning romantic interest in them. Dr. Laura Mosqueda and Dr. Gibbs established that mental impairment, depression and isolation had made all three men vulnerable.

The couple was charged with multiple counts of financial abuse, which carry heavy prison sentences. But the judge offered a plea deal demanding full restitution.

This case wasnt about the sentence, said Kenneth W. Johns, the deputy public guardian for Orange County. These men needed their money back so they can be taken care of.

Some members of the team, including Kenneth Smith, a veteran investigator, say the typical abuser tends to be the weak link in a family, without a career or a home. The abuser often has mental health or substance abuse problems.

Mr. Smith said other family members were relieved to delegate the task of caring for an elderly person and turned a blind eye to incompetence and other factors that raised the risk of abuse, like the need for money.

Dr. Mosqueda fiercely objects to that stereotype, which ignores the stress on those taking care of the elderly. A police investigator may never encounter loving and attentive adult children driven to the brink, she said, because the police work at the margins of society, after other interventions have failed.

Dr. Mosqueda said she saw caretakers in her office every day and asked them, directly, if they had ever yelled at or struck the person in their care or even been afraid they might.

If your mother has Alzheimers, Dr. Mosqueda said, and shes belittling you all the time, screaming, asking the same questions over and over, and you have a husband and kids and a job, at some point youre going to say, If she asks me that same damn question one more time, Im going to hit her.

Dr. Mosqueda continued, Im doing the best I can isnt an excuse, but sometimes its really true, and its our job to know the difference and help families solve it so it doesnt ever get to the team at the forensic center.

On April 27, 2002, plaintiff Curtis Woods was an unbelted backseat passenger in a sedan, driven by Crystal Lowder on Interstate 30 in Fort Worth, when the car and a Union Pacific Railroad tractor-trailer, driven by Donald Slovak, collided. Lowder, who was entering the freeway from an entrance ramp, had lost control of her vehicle. Her car traveled across all three lanes of the freeway and struck the concrete divide and then spun or rolled backwards across all three lanes again until it reached the last lane where the Union Pacific 18-wheeler hit the car on the driver’s side in the area of the backseat.Woods sued, claiming vehicular negligence on the part of Union Pacific, Slovak and Lowder, saying that the wreck left him paralyzed.Plaintiff’s counsel argued that Lowder was negligent for driving erratically and losing control of her vehicle. Counsel contended that Union Pacific and its driver were negligent because the Union Pacific truck was too closely following the vehicle in front of it, and because it could have stopped short of the Lowder vehicle.Attorneys for Union Pacific and Slovak denied any responsibility on their clients’ part. They said Lowder entered the freeway ahead of Slovak at a high rate of speed, driving erratically and, almost immediately upon entering the freeway, lost control of her vehicle, causing this entire incident. Counsel argued that Slovak, upon seeing an emergency up ahead of him, moved his truck to the right hand lane away from the direction Lowder was traveling and began to slow down and bring his truck to a stop. Lawyers contended Lowder’s car bounced off the concrete median in an unexpected fashion and that there was nothing Slovak could have done to prevent the accident.

Attorneys for Lowder maintained that she was a recently licensed driver and was not driving erratically or speeding at the time of the collision. Counsel argued that Lowder’s car went out of control due to no fault of her own. Lawyers pointed out that Woods said he heard a popping noise consistent with a blowout just as the car was going out of control. Attorneys further argued that all the drivers whose cars were closer to Lowder’s vehicle than the Union Pacific truck acted in time to stop well behind her car as it rolled back across the traffic. Counsel maintained that it was not the impact with the concrete wall that paralyzed Woods, and that if the Union Pacific truck had been maintaining a proper following distance and had stopped like the rest of the traffic instead of choosing to go around the car in front of it, Woods would not have been injured.

Woods was paralyzed from the waist down and has impaired use of his hands.

He sought past and future medical costs, restitution for past and future physical impairment, past and future pain and suffering and compensation for disfigurement.

The jury awarded Woods $5.005 million. They placed 94% of the liability on Lowder and 6% on Union Pacific driver Slovak.

The co-pilot who survived the crash of Comair Flight 5191 underwent another surgery Wednesday and could be released in a few days, a hospital spokesman said.Doctors are operating on James Polehinke to stabilize his fractured spine, said Matt Cantor, spokesman for University of Kentucky Hospital. The co-pilot was the lone survivor of the Aug. 27 crash that killed 49 people.

If the surgery goes well, Polehinke could leave the hospital as soon as next week, Cantor said.

Polehinke then will start months of rehabilitation.

His family said this week that Polehinke’s left leg has been amputated. Other surgeries have repaired his broken right leg and foot.

A police officer pulled Polehinke out of the charred wreckage after the regional jet crashed trying to take off from Lexington’s Blue Grass Airport.

According to federal investigators, the captain taxied the jet onto a runway that was too short before Polehinke took over the controls and tried to get the jet airborne. The taxiway route had been changed a week before the crash due to construction.

Meanwhile, a crash victim’s family sued the airline Tuesday, claiming negligence. The lawsuit filed by the mother of Cecile Moscoe is among a half-dozen filed in federal court against Comair and its parent company, Delta Air Lines.

One lawsuit in state court involving a disagreement among relatives of a crash victim also names the airline as a defendant.

A 5-year-old Chicago girl who never awoke from her sedation during a visit to the dentist died Wednesday at Children’s Memorial Hospital, a hospital official said.

Kindergartner Diamond Brownridge had been in a coma and on life support since the weekend dentist visit, said Julie Pesch, a spokeswoman for Children’s Memorial Hospital.  

Family members have said Diamond received a triple dose of sedatives – an oral agent, an intravenous drug and nitrous oxide gas – during Saturday’s exam at Little Angel Dental. The girl was having two cavities filled and caps placed on her lower front teeth.  

The girl’s mother, Ommettress Travis, has said she was asked to leave the room during the half-hour procedure. When she returned, her daughter was lying in the dental chair, not breathing, Travis said.  

“She passed very peacefully and beautifully,” a family statement released by the hospital said.  

A Chicago law firm, Clifford Law Offices, also filed paperwork to begin exploring if a malpractice case would have merit, said Thomas K. Prindable, managing partner of the firm.  

The girl’s dentist, Hicham Riba, was certified to administer anesthesia to patients and his state license was current, said Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.  

A written statement from Riba on Wednesday night extended condolences to the girl’s family. “(My family and I) are so sad,” he said. “May God bless Diamond and her family.”  

The telephone rang unanswered at Riba’s home Wednesday night.