ny medical malpractice victim wins summary judgment against defendant doctor

In one of only a handful of cases in New York Medical Malpractice Jurisprudence, Anthony T. DiPietro, Esq., won a motion which held a doctor liable for negligently leaving a suturing needle inside a patient abdomen following an operative procedure. Ordinarily, in cases of medical malpractice a jury determines whether or not a doctor is negligent. However, Mr. DiPietro was vigilant in prosecuting this case on behalf of Mr. Faas, and filed a motion before trial requesting that the Judge to rule as a matter of law that the doctor was negligent. “This case was ripe for summary judgment. It is unfathomable to a reasonable person that the defendant was not negligent in losing that needle in my client,” states Mr. DiPietro.

In October of 2001, defendant Dr. Heymann attempted to perform a laproscopic hernia repair on Mr. Faas. During the last stage of the surgery, Dr. Heymann lost a suturing needle in that patient’s abdomen. After searching for several hours, the defendants concluded that the needle wasn’t really lost in the patient’s abdomen and concluded their search. An xray performed the following day demonstrated that the needle had migrated to an area between the patient’s liver and right kidney, approximately one foot from where it was originally lost.

The Judge agreed with Mr. DiPietro, and ordered that the only issue to be decided by the jury was the amount of financial compensation that Mr. Faas is entitled to receive as a result of having this suturing needle imbeded in his liver. After news of the Judges decision made the front page of the New York Law Journal on July 20, 2005, other media became interested in this extraordinary case. The New York Daily News, New York Post, the Associated Press, and Network Television all picked up on this story and Judge’s decision became published around the globe.