STEPHEN E. RACH II, ESQ. (PARTNER) OBTAINS A DEFENSE VERDICT IN A MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASE

A defense verdict in a medical malpractice case in Supreme Court Suffolk County before Justice J. Santorelli.  The plaintiff alleged that it was a departure by the emergency room staff not to call for an infectious disease consultation, which lead to a failure to diagnose a heart valve infection which resulted in the need for multiple open heart surgeries.  On cross examination of the plaintiff’s expert Mr. Rach got the plaintiff’s expert to concede that the Emergency Room staff appropriately instructed the plaintiff to follow with his primary care doctor in two days for extensive blood work.  The patient followed with his doctor but the patient did not follow the primary care doctor’s recommendations and the plaintiff’s expert then conceded that had he followed the primary care doctor’s recommendations surgery would have been avoided.   The jury concluded that there was no indication for an infectious disease consult in the emergency department and returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the defense.