Lisa Zenzen Baker, 1961-2003

E-mail: answersforlisa@hotmail.com

Sunday, May 26, 2013

In brief


 One case delayed, one on hold


By David Baker
Posted Sunday, May 26, 2013
185 words


An update now on two lawsuits previously reported on this page.

In the first case, it’s alleged that Angela Ryan was injured when a drug-dispensing machine caused her to receive an excessive amount of morphine while a patient in St. Peter’s hospital.  Earlier this year the hospital filed a motion for summary judgment in the six-year-old case, asking the court to the dismiss Ryan’s claims.

That motion was denied.   However, a trial originally set to start on June 10 has been rescheduled to December.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by Cheryl Maille of Boise, Idaho against Samaritan Hospital in Troy and a doctor over the death of her daughter, Tara Palmer, has yet to be assigned to a judge.

According to the suit, Tara Palmer died at an airport in the Midwest after a doctor had told her it was safe for her to fly following surgery on an ankle at Samaritan Hospital.

The lawsuit was filed in November 2011 but as of last week it was not listed in the court systems computer database – which happens when one of the parties files a motion or informs the court that case is ready for trial.

This might mean that Maille’s attorney, O'Connell & Aronowitz, are not working on her case.  Or it could mean that they want to keep details of it from public view.

Eventually though, they will have to file something with the county clerk, even if it’s only a notice saying the that the case has been discontinued, meaning either it has been settled – or has been dropped.
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Paid opinion


The Internet never forgets

In many medical-malpractice cases, a hospital will pay a doctor to testify as an expert that the hospital was not responsible for the death or injury.  Some of these doctors will say almost anything for the big fee, such as stating that members of a nursing staff did not deviate from the standard of care when they ignored both a physician's written orders and the hospital's printed protocol for treating hypoglycemia.

That's what Dr. Matthew C. Leinung said  in an affidavit for Samaritan Hospital in Troy, NY  in my lawsuit over death of my wife, Lisa, in 2003 after what is now called a 'never event'.  The judge - who had made  no effort to hide his sympathy for the hospital - accepted that opinion and dismissed my claims.

Despite his unusual name, Leinung apparently thought he could hide; his list of qualifications left out the preceding 12 years of his career - during which he worked just 12 miles from us at Albany Medical Center Hospital.

Here is a story I posted on my blog in 2008 about Leinung's paid opinion.   With that post is a link to a follow-up piece I wrote in 2009, pointing out that on the Internet, your past never goes away.

Read it HERE
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