Finz & Finz, P.C. Defeats Attempt to Dismiss Medical Malpractice Wrist Surgery Case

Our client required wrist surgery due to her medical condition. In a lawsuit that our law firm filed on her behalf, the internist who approved our client for surgery, along with the orthopedic surgeon who performed the procedure, are charged with ignoring our client’s high blood calcium levels. Pre-surgical blood tests, if properly reviewed, indicated that our client had undiagnosed and untreated hyperparathyroidism, causing her bones to soften and weaken. The failure to diagnose and treat this issue prior to performing the operation resulted in several failed wrist surgeries, leaving our client with a painful and non-functional wrist.

After the commencement of litigation, and following the completion of depositions, the internist and orthopedic surgeon each filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to dismiss our client’s case. Their theory, based on the opinions of their experts, was that the defendants did not depart from the appropriate standard of medical care when treating our client, and if they did, their medical malpractice did not cause our client’s injuries.

Our firm vigorously opposed these motions, spearheaded by Benjamin P. Jacobs, our firm’s Appellate Attorney. With the support of our medical experts, we demonstrated to the Court that there are questions of fact (which can only be determined by a jury trial) regarding whether the defendants departed from the appropriate standard of care in failing to act upon our client’s abnormal blood calcium level test results prior to performing wrist surgery.

The decision, written by New York State Supreme Court Justice Roy S. Mahon and entered into the Court record on November 18, 2020, denied the defendants’ motions to have this case dismissed, ruling that our client is entitled to have her case presented to a Nassau County jury.

Case Information

• Lori E. Lebowitz and Keith S. Lebowitz v. Scott Wolfe, M.D., Eric Schoenfeld, M.D., Eric Schoenfeld, MD., P.C. and Hospital for Special Surgery
• Index No. 614103/17
• Nassau County Supreme Court