As New Yorkers, we often think we have the best and most advanced healthcare options in the world, and in many ways that is true.
New York has world class medical facilities and research centers doing groundbreaking work and training some of America’s best and brightest future medical professionals.
But as a New York City medical malpractice lawyer, I also see the flip side of that coin.
Often lower income New Yorkers suffer unfairly at the hands of severely mismanaged hospitals and negligent doctors.
In fact, a recent article by Consumer Reports found that of the 50 lowest scoring hospitals, 30 are located in New York.
The New York Daily News recently reported some serious concerns about the lack of patient safety at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
Interestingly, the hospital’s spokesman Ole Pedersen claims “we are confident in the quality of care provided to the residents of Brooklyn”.
But the facts suggest otherwise.
Brookdale is currently facing over 100 lawsuits from patients and their relatives, which suggests rampant negligence and malpractice.
In fact, a couple of those patients are being represented by our law firm.
A dozen of these lawsuits involve patients that were killed as a result of the hospital’s malpractice.
In one case, an elderly woman developed a blood infection and gangrene on her feet from pressure ulcers.
In one of our own cases a doctor fractured a child’s shoulder while forcefully pulling him out of his mother’s uterus – and then sent him home without diagnosing it.
The Daily News reported other specific acts of malpractice, include:
Joanne Doroshow, director of the Center for Justice and Democracy at New York University, calls this an epidemic of medical malpractice suits for Brookdale, and that the volume is “egregious.”
Of course, it is important to remember that these numbers only reflect the patients actually filing lawsuits.
It is very likely that many more patients have been affected by malpractice and have not done anything about it.
Ms. Doroshow says that for every one patient that files a lawsuit, 100 more felt they got substandard care but did not sue.
She went on to tell the Daily News that such unsafe acts are tremendously expensive for the community because it increases the need for even more medical care, and that there are proven and well-known ways to make hospitals safer for patients.
She stated that it is “pure negligence” to not implement these measures.
Even among Brooklyn’s other hospitals, many of which are substantially bigger than Brookdale, Brookdale stands out as one of the biggest problem hospitals.
New York Assemblymen have called this figure “alarming” and that it shows need for change at the “highest levels of management.”
Unsurprisingly, Brookdale has been failing financially the past few years, with a 2010 operating loss of $42 million.
Last September the CEO of its parent company, MediSys Health Network, was convicted of bribing New York City officials.
This kind of financial mismanagement is a separate problem, but we can all agree that whatever financial problems a hospital is facing, there is never an excuse for negligence or malpractice.
Further we must remember that government studies have proven that the entire cost of malpractice verdicts, settlements, and total litigation costs, represent a mere one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the total cost of malpractice insurance.
Whereas the “administrative costs” racked up by insurance companies represent twenty-one percent (21%) of the total insurance premiums they collect.
Clearly there must be increased Patient Safety at these institutions, but the changes must also include reform of the astronomical salaries and perquisites that are being plundered by the insurance companies, their executives, and their CEOs.
If you or a loved one has been a patient at a New York hospital and has received unsafe or substandard medical care, be sure to contact us.
It may be the only way you and your family can obtain justice from a hospital that has been careless about Patient Safety.
No hospital should be allowed to be as bad as Brookdale has become, and civil medical malpractice lawsuits are often the only way to force hospitals to increase patient safety.
Here, at The DiPietro Law Firm, we’re committed to helping victims of sexual abuse and assault find the justice they deserve.
All information discussed during our consultations always remains completely 100% confidential.
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Founder Anthony T. DiPietro, Esq. is a compassionate and skilled trial attorney who has completely dedicated the past 23 years of his career to litigating medical malpractice and sexual abuse cases against major corporate institutions including hospitals, medical clinics, schools, and other wrongdoers.
Mr. DiPietro has also obtained some of New York State’s highest verdicts and settlements, and has been selected to New York State Super Lawyers® each year, for the past 10 years in a row.
In 2022, Mr. DiPietro was selected as one of America’s Top 100 High-Stakes Litigators for the landmark cases he’s won on behalf of survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse.
Here, at The DiPietro Law Firm, we’re committed to helping victims of sexual abuse and assault find the justice they deserve.
All information discussed during our consultations always remains completely 100% confidential.
Would you like our help?
Our New York City medical malpractice law firm earnestly believes that most doctors and medical facilities wish to bring quality health care to their patients. Young people
Years of Abuse: 1987 – 2016
Brief:
Robert Hadden, a disgraced Obstetrician-Gynecologist (OB/GYN) who worked for Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, was criminally convicted in 2016 of sexually exploiting and abusing patients under the guise of medical care.
Hadden used his position of authority and trust to sexually exploit women and girls for nearly three decades as a Columbia University physician.
All the while, Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital administrators turned their backs and ignored reports of Hadden’s abuse, gaslighting patients and the public.
Read More:
Years of Abuse: 1979 – 2022
Brief:
David H. Broadbent is a former OB/GYN under criminal investigation and facing civil lawsuits for sexual abuse of patients.
Broadent worked at multiple medical facilities in the Provo, Orem and Salt Lake City, UT areas.
These facilities included Intermountain Healthcare’s Utah Valley Hospital, MountainStar Healthcare’s Timpanogos Hospital, other Utah health care providers, and he also had adverse action taken against his medical license back in 1990.
Read More:
Years of Abuse: 1990 – 2016
Read More: University of Southern California & Predator George Tyndall
Years of Abuse: 1961 – 1996
Brief:
22 predator teachers and administrators, over the course of 35 years.
Years of Abuse: 1960 – 1982
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