Verdicts

The district court properly dismissed claims brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (18 U.S.C. ' 1961 et seq.) and the common law, as the injuries complained of were identical to those alleged in medical malpractice claims and were not to property, but were personal. Gotlin v. Lederamn, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 8790 (5/1/12). The administrator of the estate of Guiseppa Caramanna Bono, along with the deceased's husband and several other similarly situated survivors of other deceased persons, sued the defendants (including several doctors and hospitals) under the common law theory of fraudulent misrepresentation, as well as for medical malpractice and for violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) (18 U.S.C. ' 1961 et seq.). They claimed the defendants lied about the efficacy of the cancer treatment known as Fractionated Stereotactic Radiosurgery (FSR), and that these misrepresentations unlawfully induced the decedents to undergo a radiation therapy that was both ineffective and harmful. The district court dismissed the fraud and RICO claims.

The appeals court affirmed after finding that, under New York law, a plaintiff may not assert separate causes of action for fraud and medical malpractice unless “the damages sustained as a result of the fraud are distinct from the damages sustained as a result of the malpractice.” Giannetto v. Knee, 82 AD3d 1043 (N.Y. App. Div. 2011). Here, the alleged medical malpractice injuries were the same injuries complained of in the fraud claim. Thus, dismissal was proper.