Senior Trial Partner Thomas Mobilia and Partner Karen Corbett’s motion for summary judgment was granted in Queens County Supreme Court before Justice O’Donoghue.
In this matter, the plaintiff was a then 67 year old male who suffered an acute stroke which left him a right sided hemiplegic. He commenced this personal injury action against our client hospital concerning a Stage IV sacral pressure sore he developed while he was a patient in co-defendant’s hospital. It is alleged that the pressure ulcer worsened while he was a resident at our client’s nursing home, during his multiple admissions there, and during his subsequent admissions to co-defendant’s Hospital. Plaintiff asserted claims against our nursing home sounding in negligence, medical malpractice, lack of informed consent and violation of resident rights under NY Public Health law.
The Court’s March 31, 2022 Decision and Order granted our summary judgment motion and dismissed all of the claims against our client Nursing Home. The decision noted that we had established a prima facie case of entitlement to summary judgment on all nine causes of action, including the claims of violation of resident rights under the New York Public Health Law, by virtue of the affirmation of our geriatrician expert who attested that the care and treatment the plaintiff received during each of his admissions to our client’s facility was compliant with the standard of care and did not cause or exacerbate any of the injuries claimed in this case. The court found that the expert affirmation by the Doctor which plaintiff submitted in opposition to our motion was insufficient to rebut this showing as he failed to mention every departure set forth in the bill of particulars – all of which were addressed by our expert. The court further found that plaintiff’s expert’s opinions were conclusory, speculative and were not supported by the evidence. The court’s decision dismissed all of plaintiff’s claims against our client with prejudice.