Med Mal News

New York City Hospital Settles Notorious Case

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) has reached agreements with the New York Civil Liberties Union, Mental Hygiene Legal Services and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle complaints concerning deficiencies at Queens, NY's Kings County Hospital Center. Mishandling of several patients' cases prompted the call for the reforms outlined in the agreement, most notably the death of Esmin Green in 2008. Green waited for more than 24 hours, largely unattended, to be admitted to the hospital. Her obvious medical distress was ignored or overlooked by staff members, and she died of a blood clot on the waiting room floor. The terms of the agreements were memorialized in a settlement signed by Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York on Jan. 8. Judge Matsumoto will retain oversight authority in order to make sure that HHC complies with its pledges, which include, among others: 1) relieving overcrowding; 2) establishing a group to oversee reforms; 3) improving the triage system; and 4) discontinuing the practice of putting patients in isolation.

Doctor Indicted on Charges of Covering up Liver Transplant Patient Switch

Los Angeles surgeon Dr. Richard R. Lopez Jr. was indicted Jan. 6 for allegedly lying to the national organ transplant network about a liver transplant performed on a patient low on the national wait list. Dr. Lopez was the director of the liver transplant program at Los Angeles' St. Vincent Medical Center in 2003 when a liver was made available to a St. Vincent patient identified as A-H. Unfortunately, when the liver became available, A-H was visiting Saudi Arabia. The person next in line to receive the liver was at another hospital in the Los Angeles area. Rather than notifying the organ transplant organization that A-H was not present, Lopez allegedly approved the transplant of the liver to another patient at St. Vincent's. That patient was 52nd in line to receive a liver. Then, Dr. Lopez and his unnamed co-conspirators allegedly falsified records to show that A-H had indeed received the liver, causing him to be removed from the organ procurement organization's list of waiting patients. A-H, however, still believed that he was on the wait list. A-H died before ever receiving a liver transplant. In a release announcing the indictment, issued by the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health of Human Services, said, “Violating federal organ transplant rules and then taking steps to cover up his actions, Dr. Lopez exposed the public to substantial risk. This case sends a strong message that doctors must follow the rules in place to protect patients.”

New York City Hospital Settles Notorious Case

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) has reached agreements with the New York Civil Liberties Union, Mental Hygiene Legal Services and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to settle complaints concerning deficiencies at Queens, NY's Kings County Hospital Center. Mishandling of several patients' cases prompted the call for the reforms outlined in the agreement, most notably the death of Esmin Green in 2008. Green waited for more than 24 hours, largely unattended, to be admitted to the hospital. Her obvious medical distress was ignored or overlooked by staff members, and she died of a blood clot on the waiting room floor. The terms of the agreements were memorialized in a settlement signed by Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York on Jan. 8. Judge Matsumoto will retain oversight authority in order to make sure that HHC complies with its pledges, which include, among others: 1) relieving overcrowding; 2) establishing a group to oversee reforms; 3) improving the triage system; and 4) discontinuing the practice of putting patients in isolation.

Doctor Indicted on Charges of Covering up Liver Transplant Patient Switch

Los Angeles surgeon Dr. Richard R. Lopez Jr. was indicted Jan. 6 for allegedly lying to the national organ transplant network about a liver transplant performed on a patient low on the national wait list. Dr. Lopez was the director of the liver transplant program at Los Angeles' St. Vincent Medical Center in 2003 when a liver was made available to a St. Vincent patient identified as A-H. Unfortunately, when the liver became available, A-H was visiting Saudi Arabia. The person next in line to receive the liver was at another hospital in the Los Angeles area. Rather than notifying the organ transplant organization that A-H was not present, Lopez allegedly approved the transplant of the liver to another patient at St. Vincent's. That patient was 52nd in line to receive a liver. Then, Dr. Lopez and his unnamed co-conspirators allegedly falsified records to show that A-H had indeed received the liver, causing him to be removed from the organ procurement organization's list of waiting patients. A-H, however, still believed that he was on the wait list. A-H died before ever receiving a liver transplant. In a release announcing the indictment, issued by the Office of the U.S. Attorney, Glenn R. Ferry, Special Agent in Charge for the Los Angeles Region of the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health of Human Services, said, “Violating federal organ transplant rules and then taking steps to cover up his actions, Dr. Lopez exposed the public to substantial risk. This case sends a strong message that doctors must follow the rules in place to protect patients.”