Summary Judgment Motions

Maria Black defended a pain management physician who was alleged to have negligently administered joint injections to the right hip of a 60-year-old nursing assistant for treatment of leg and lower back pain. Plaintiff maintained that the improperly administered injections caused irreversible damage to the sciatic nerve resulting in right foot drop and leaving the patient wheelchair bound. The defendant’s physician explained that the plaintiff’s contention was an anatomical impossibility since the nerves in the area of the injections, even if injured, could not result in right foot drop. The judge presiding over the case, agreed with the defense position that the proper placement of the needle during the injections was evidenced by intra-operative images captured under fluoroscopic guidance, which eliminated the possibility of any mechanical damage to the nerves outside the region of the sacroiliac joint and granted summary judgment for the defendant physician. Subsequent nerve conduction studies revealed that the plaintiff’s right foot drop was caused by the effects and progression of the neurological disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).

Shari Fein successfully moved for summary judgment on behalf of an obstetrician/maternal fetal medicine specialist in a “wrongful life” action. The matter involved failing to timely diagnose fetal abnormalities in utero wherein the plaintiff subsequently gave birth to an infant who was diagnosed with VATER syndrome. The Court determined that the plaintiff’s expert’s affirmation lacked probative value as it failed to lay the requisite foundation necessary to set forth opinions on the standard of care in Maternal Fetal Medicine and Genetic Counseling.

Ms. Fein also prevailed when a Summary Judgment motion was granted in favor of an obstetrician/maternal fetal medicine specialist in a case involving the failure to properly manage pre-eclampsia and the decision to prematurely deliver the infant-plaintiffs. Plaintiff also alleged that our physician should have recommended treatment to enhance fetal lung maturity; should have recommended calcium supplements, aspirin therapy and bed rest; and that he negligently prescribed Procardia. We were able to convince the court that the physician’s care and treatment was appropriate and within the standard of care.