PLAINTIFF’S EXPERT RAISED A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER A DELAY IN DIAGNOSIS AFFECTED THE PROGNOSIS; DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THIS MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ACTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the medical malpractice action should not have been dismissed. Plaintiff’s expert raised a question of fact about whether a delay in diagnosis affected the prognosis:
On February 26, 2014, the plaintiff’s decedent presented to the emergency department of the defendant Brookdale Hospital Medical Center (hereinafter Brookdale) complaining of swelling in both legs. The attending emergency room physician, the defendant Morombaye Mbaidjol, diagnosed the decedent with “[l]ikely peripheral vascular disease” and discharged her to her home. The decedent’s bilateral leg swelling initially improved, but nine days later, she presented to a different hospital’s emergency department again complaining of bilateral leg swelling. An ultrasound revealed acute deep vein thrombosis (hereinafter DVT) of major veins in both lower extremities. Shortly after the ultrasound was performed, the decedent experienced cardiopulmonary arrest and died. An autopsy of the decedent revealed that she died as a result of bilateral DVT of the lower extremities, which led to a bilateral pulmonary embolism, causing cardiac arrest and death. * * *
“Summary judgment is not appropriate in a medical malpractice action where the parties adduce conflicting medical expert opinions” … .. Contrary to the Brookdale defendants’ contention, the opinions of the plaintiff’s expert physician were not speculative and conclusory … . The plaintiff’s expert physician opined … that the Brookdale defendants departed from the standard of care by failing to take a proper history and perform a proper workup of the decedent, failing to rule out DVT, misdiagnosing the decedent, and failing to institute the proper treatment, which resulted in the progression of the DVT, bilateral pulmonary embolism, and ultimately cardiac arrest and death nine days later. Among other things, “[w]hether a diagnostic delay affected a patient’s prognosis is typically an issue that should be presented to a jury” … . Ivey v Mbaidjol, 2022 NY Slip Op 01152, Second Dept 2-23-22