General

• John H. Fisher Starts New Website to Educate Public
  Aug 09, 2010
  A companion site, www.protectingpatientrights.weebly.com, was created by John H. Fisher to continue to educate the public about medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, and birth injuries. Check it out to find new blog entries, helpful links, and other resources. 
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• John Fisher is excited to join Mainetti, Mainetti & O'Connor, P.C.
  Jul 10, 2010

  John Fisher is excited to announce that he will join the law firm of Mainetti, Mainetti & O'Connor, P.C. on Monday, July 12, 2010.
  
  After 14 years as a partner with Powers & Santola, LLP, John will be accepting referrals of serious and catastrophic personal injury and medical malpractice claims at Mainetti, Mainetti & O'Connor, P.C., a prominent personal injury law firm in the mid-Hudson Valley.  John will continue to devote his practice to the representation of victims of negligence in medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, legal malpractice and general personal injury cases.
  
  John will appreciate referrals from lawyers throughout the United States and he will continue to pay generous referral fees as permitted under New York law. - 4 - 10

• Settlement of $900,000 of Dram Shop Case
  Jun 02, 2010

  On June 1, 2010, a settlement was reached in the sum of $900,000 on the day before trial in the United States Court in the Northern District of New York, arising from the death of a 47-year old in a motor vehicle accident in the Town of Queensbury, County of Queensbury, New York on February 26, 2005. The decedent was survived by her 61-year old husband and 7-year old daughter.  The settling defendants included the Estate of Jason Goodspeed and the Adirondack Bar & Grill, which was owned and operated by James Valastro.
  
  Just after midnight on February 26, 2005, the car driven by the alleged drunk driver, Jason Goodspeed, crossed double yellow solid lines on a state highway directly into the path of the vehicle driven by the plaintiff about 1.8 miles from the Adirondack Bar & Grill.  Both vehicles were demolished in the head-on collision.  The plaintiff had no chance to take evasive measures to avoid the collision, and he and his wife were extricated from their car by the Town of Queensbury Fire Department.  The 61-year old plaintiff sustained substantial orthopedic injuries in the crash necessitating multiple operations at the Albany Medical Center and Boston General Hospital, and his wife died four hours after the collision as a result of internal bleeding.
  
  The alleged drunk driver, Jason Goodspeed, had a blood alcohol level of .20%, more than twice the legal limit for driving while intoxicated.  The plaintiff's forensic toxicologist estimated that Goodspeed consumed 11 to 15 beers prior to leaving the Adirondack Bar & Grill at midnight, just minutes before the crash occurred, and he further opined that Goodspeed would have had the appearance of gross intoxication when he was last served beer at the Adirondack Bar & Grill based on his blood alcohol level.  Eyewitnesses at the bar confirmed that Goodspeed drank beer at the Adirondack Bar & Grill for 4 hours just prior to the motor vehicle accident.
  
  The dram shop coverage for the Adirondack Bar & Grill was limited to $1 million. - 5 - 10

• Settlement for $575,000 of lawsuit against Kingston gastroenterologist
  May 21, 2010

  On Friday, April 23, 2010, our 42-year old client settled her claims against Kingston gastroenterologist, Kevin Dodd, M.D., for $575,000 arising from the defendant's failure to perform basic tests to diagnose an esophageal perforation on the same day as a balloon dilation procedure at the Kingston Hospital.
  
  After undergoing a balloon dilation procedure by Dr. Dodd at the Kingston Hospital, our client was discharged without any complication and her only symptom was mild abdominal discomfort.  Less than two hours after her discharge, our client was taken by ambulance from her home in Saugerties to the Emergency Department of the Benedictine Hospital with the complaint of severe abdominal and chest pain that she rated 10 out of 10 on the pain scale.  The ER physician, Walter Soha, M.D., ordered a chest x-ray, which revealed the buildup of fluid in the lower bases of our client's right and left lungs. Dr. Soha conveyed the information to Dr. Dodd by telephone and they jointly agreed to discharge our client from the Benedictine Hospital.
  
  Two days later, our client was taken back to the Emergency Department of the Benedictine Hospital with the same complaints of severe abdominal and chest pain.  On this ER visit, the appropriate test was ordered, a CT scan of the chest, which revealed a 5 centimeter perforation (hole) in the lower part of our client's esophagus.  Emergency surgery was performed at the Benedictine Hospital to repair the esophageal perforation and our client received in-patient treatment at the hospital for 16 days.
  
  After repeated procedures on her esophagus, our client eventually required the surgical removal of two-thirds of her esophagus and later underwent procedures to relieve the chronic nerve pain on the left side of her body. - 6 - 10

• $125,000 for fractured hip of 86-year old at Ferncliff Nursing Home
  May 21, 2010

  On April 22, 2010, our client, the executor of the Estate of her father's Estate, settled her lawsuit for $125,000 arising from the fractured hip of her 86-year old father while a resident at the Ferncliff Nursing  ome in Dutchess County.
  
  The decedent had a history of prior falls before his admission to the Ferncliff Nursing Home and after his admission to the nursing home and he suffered from confusion and dementia.  The nursing home did not take appropriate precautions to prevent a fall despite assessing the decedent as high risk for a fall.
  
  The decedent fell while left alone in his room in the middle of the afternoon and he underwent an open reduction internal fixation operation to surgically repair his fractured femur.  The decedent was in and out of the hospital after the operation and died three months later of unrelated causes.
  
  The plaintiff contended that the decedent's fall would not have occurred if the Ferncliff Nursing Home had taken precautions to prevent the fall, as required by its own protocols.  - 7 - 10

• Georgia High Court strikes down Caps on Malpractice Awards
  Mar 23, 2010

  On March 22, 2010, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously held that the state legislature may not limit the amount of money that juries award to victims of medical malpractice. The state law set a $350,000 limit on jury awards for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases.
  
  The ruling struck down a 2005 state law that capped jury awards at $350,000 for the pain and suffering of malpractice victims.  The Supreme Court held that the cap improperly removed a jury's fundamental role to determine the damages in a civil case.
  
  The Georgia Supreme Court's 7-0 ruling concluded that the cap violated the right to a jury trial because it "clearly nullifies the jury's findings of fact regarding damages and thereby undermines the jury's basic function". Chief Justice Carol Hunstein wrote in the opinion.  "The very existence of caps, in any amount, is violative of the right to trial by jury." Chief Justice Hunstein wrote.
  
  The court's ruling centered on a case involving Betsy Nestlehutt, a 71-year old who was awarded $1.15 million in non-economic damages--including $900,000 in pain and suffering--by a jury in Fulton County afer she was permanently disfigured after a botched facelift.  But under the cap, that would have been reduced to $115,000 for medical expenses and $350,000 for non-economic damages. On Monday, the original award was reinstated.
  
  Thirty states, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico place caps on jury awards in malpractice cases.  However, since the late 1980s, such caps have been struck down by courts in New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and, most recently, last month in Illinois.
  
  Monday was a great day for the rights of injured victims of malpractice! - 8 - 10

• Glorious day for injury victims!
  Mar 16, 2010

  On March 16, 2010, our 28 year old disabled client reaped the benefits of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision entitled, Arkansas Department of Health & Human Services v. Ahlborn, 457 U.S. 268, 126 S.Ct. 1752 (2006) in virtually eliminating a very substantial Medicaid lien against his settlement proceeds.
  
  In a nutshell, our client received a settlement offer in a premises liability case venued in Binghamton for $450,000, but faced the possibility that a Medicaid lien in the sum of $294,718.75 would force him to reject the offer.   I fought the Medicaid lien by arguing that in New York the courts determine the ratio between the settlement and the full value of the case and apply that ratio to the amount of the Medicaid lien to arrive at the amount the State is entitled to seek.
  
  The Supreme Court, Broome County, accepted the Ahlborn formula and placed a full value of $11,000,000 on our client's case.  The settlement of $450,000 was based on lack of insurance coverage and liability issues.  Applying the Ahlborn formula, the ratio between the settlement and the full value of the case led to a reduction in the Medicaid lien from $294,718.75 to $12,056.65, thus allowing our client to settle.
  
  The decision in Ahlborn gives injured victims's great ammunition for reducing Medicaid liens that did not previously exist.  Before Ahlborn, the Medicaid agencies demanded payment in full of the Medicaid liens and this often prevented personal injury victims from recovering a dime.
  
  Today, Ahlborn was successfully applied to our client's case and finally, Medicaid is faced with the new reality that its rights to recover its lien is very limited.  A GREAT day for injury victims! - 9 - 10

• $1,000,000 settlement of legal malpractice lawsuit
  Feb 10, 2010

  On Februay 9, 2010, John Fisher settled a legal malpractice lawsuit arising from a New York City law firm's failure to timely respond to discovery demands in a medical malpractice lawsuit arising from a delay in diagnosing lung cancer in a 48 year old male residing in Fulton, New York. - 10 - 10