The Story of Betty

Betty was a low-income clinic patient (ie: not having her own OBGYN) on Medicaid when she had her second child. As she went into labor, the resident doctor in charge of her quarter was no where to be found. Instead, a nurse who was not certified in delivering babies had to deliver the baby boy. Perhaps due to her inexperience, somehow blood vessels in the baby's brain ruptured but nobody recognized the bleeding until 24 hours later, when he was rushed into Intensive Care Unit on the verge of death. When the child finally left the hospital, his parents were devastated: his limbs were curled up tightly, and his left and right side muscles have uneven tones. The prognosis was that he would be crippled for life. Through recommendations of medical experts and the suggestions of our Law Firm, Betty placed her baby in an "early intervention program" which involved multiple forms of therapies specifically designed for cerebral palsy children. She even quit her day job to take care of her son 24/7. Although the boy's condition was very poor initially, through years of extensive and aggressive therapies, plus this devoted mother's determination to give her son a better life, the little boy recovered miraculously. Ultimately the injuries themselves were subtle and difficult to prove. In the end, our Law Firm helped Betty obtain a multi-million dollar settlement, and convinced the court to allow a new family home in the boy's name to be purchased so that he could be raised in a better and safer environment.

The Story of Lena

Lena came to us because her 2 year old child had a breathing problem. They were told that it was related to his sinuses. Upon seeing the child, and reviewing the medical records, it became apparent to us that the child had cerebral palsy - his damaged brain was unable to control his breathing normally. Even though the doctors knew it, they didn't tell the parents. When we sought to review the case, it turned out that the 'Fetal Monitoring Strips' which showed the condition of the baby during labor, were 'missing.' Our consultant experts said that without the fetal monitoring strips we could not prove malpractice. We took the case nonetheless and set out to change the law so that the defendants, who had disposed of critical evidence, would not be permitted to dispute the claims of malpractice. The trial level judge denied our arguments. We took it on appeal to a higher court, and we succeeded. As a result we obtained a large settlement for the child. Perhaps equally important, the case now has set up an important precedent that if the defendants who committed medical malpractice hide or dispose of critical medical records, they will lose. This important victory ensures a patient's right to seek just compensations while preventing fraud within the medical community.

The Story of Gilberto

Gilberto's mom came to us after being turned down by virtually every major law firm in New York City. She had Strep-B infection which was not treated timely, and it passed to her son during birth. Little Gilberto therefore suffered a terrible infection in his intestines which was diagnosed the day after he was born. As a result he lost most of his intestines and lived for most of his life in the hospital. A firm had started the case and then requested to be relieved as counsel. The judge ordered that if she didn't find a new attorney by a certain date the case would be dismissed. She came to us with 10 days before the deadline. We agreed to take over the case with the understanding that if we did not find a meritorious basis for the case we would not continue. We had a board certified obstetrician review the case and he couldn't find any wrongdoing. Nonetheless we didn't give up. Mr. Lichtenstein, our Law Firm's lead attorney, personally reviewed all the medical records, and found that the results of an amniocentesis done days before delivery showed the presence of white blood cells, which signifies the presence of an infection. None had noticed this significant detail among the huge pile of documents. When we showed it to the expert, he said that they should have immediately delivered the child. When the defendants experts were shown this result they agreed. As a result the case settled for a very large sum of money.