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Senior Trial Partner Charles S. Schechter and Partner Anina H. Monte successfully secured Summary Judgment in Queens County Supreme Court on behalf of MCB’s client Hospital. The plaintiff was a private patient of a codefendant surgeon who performed a robot assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy. Following surgery, the plaintiff was admitted to the medical surgical floor and developed an ileus on postoperative day three, which was evaluated by CT scan and interpreted by a codefendant radiologist.
The CT scan demonstrated free air consistent with postoperative changes, although a small bowel injury could not be excluded. The plaintiff remained in the Hospital, recovering and improving, until a sudden change in his condition on post-operative day seven, when a repeat CT scan demonstrated a small bowel perforation. The Plaintiff was returned to the operating room, where the bowel injury was repaired by the codefendant and a non-party surgeon.
The plaintiff alleged that the codefendant radiologist misinterpreted the November 6, 2021, CT scan and further claimed that MCB’s client Hospital, through its resident and surgical staff, failed to bring the patient back to the operating room sooner, allowing his condition to worsen. In opposition to the summary judgment motion, the plaintiff also raised a new allegation that there was a failure to give the patient oral contrast as ordered by codefendant surgeon.
The Court granted Summary Judgment, finding that MCB demonstrated that the plaintiff was a private patient of the codefendant surgeon and that MCB’s client Hospital staff did not deviate from the standard of care in following the surgeon’s orders, plan and instructions. The Court further held that the plaintiff failed to overcome the defendant’s prima facie showing with competent evidence and improperly raised new allegations for the first time in opposition. The codefendant radiologist also obtained Summary Judgment, and the Court therefore held that the Hospital could not be held vicariously liable for his actions.