Brookdale malpractice lawyer
Brookdale Hospital – A Culture Of Unsafe Medical Practice
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.
March 9, 2012
A recent news story, reports that New York hospitals are hiding thousands of medical mistakes in a database that is hidden from the public!
As a New York medical malpractice attorney it’s chilling (but not all that surprising) that serious errors are being hidden and those affected denied justice.
According to the New York State Health Department, state hospitals have confidentially reported more than 40,000 so-called “adverse events” since 2007, which includes such serious errors as:
But if a member of the public tries to search hospital profiles on the Department’s website, only a fraction of those reports will come up.
This is because of a state law that allows for the New York Patient Occurrence Reporting and Tracking System (NYPORTS)–any reports under this program are kept secret from the public.
One of the “adverse events” reported under NYPORTS (but never to the public) was a C-section that went awry at a lower Manhattan hospital in 2007.
Evidence of the incident only surfaced at all through an unrelated employment lawsuit.
Shockingly it showed that doctors performed a C-section on a woman who wasn’t even pregnant.
In testimony in the unrelated case, one of the doctors at the facility stated that she knew of the C-section.
Despite this and a New York requirement that such surgical errors be reported within 24 hours, this event was not mentioned in any record available to the public.
A spokesman for the Department told reporters that the hospital, New York Downtown Hospital, was:
“In full compliance with all state reporting requirements.”
The C-section incident was reported under NYPORTS but, as stated, that information is confidential and not available to the public.
Reporters have discovered that 14 other problems classified as “unexpected deaths” have been reported through this confidential system since 2007.
None are found on a search of the Department’s website.
Patient advocates have strongly criticized this confidential system, saying the public deserves, at a minimum, evidence that New York takes reports of harm seriously and is doing something to improve things.
Patient advocates point out that in this system they have no way of finding out whether hospitals are even reporting confidentially what they should be reporting.
Arthur Levin, the director of the non-profit Center for Medical Consumers, said:
“If it’s all opaque, there’s no reason to do better. If it’s all transparent, there’s a darn good reason to do better.”
But the Health Department maintains its hands are tied by the law stating that this information is forbidden from being released to the public.
The Department issued a statement, which says:
“Under state law, hospitals are required to report adverse events to the state Health Department, which uses this information to identify and correct deficiencies that may affect patient safety.
Due to confidentiality statutes in the law, this information is not disclosed publicly.
The department is currently developing strategies to provide additional information to help inform and serve the interests of the health-care consumer in the state, while also ensuring continued compliance with confidentiality requirements.”
Is this law fair?
Is it useful for this information to be reported but not shared with the public?
Here, at The DiPietro Law Firm, we’re committed to helping victims of sexual abuse and assault find the justice they deserve.
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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?
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.
As a New York medical malpractice lawyer, I understand the trust involved in the relationship between doctor and patient – and the way it can be broken.
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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.
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22 predator teachers and administrators, over the course of 35 years.
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