Successful Verdicts and Settlements

Widow of New Jersey Transit worker awarded $19M

HOME NEWS TRIBUNE
LONNIE MACK
STAFF WRITER

MIDDLESEX COUNTY: The wife of an New Jersey Transit employee who died in 2002 of a job-related lung disease was awarded $19.2 million yesterday by a Superior Court jury in New Brunswick.

Catherine Fuccilli of Freehold, the widow of Roger Fuccilli, will receive the compensation from New Jersey Transit, Central Railroad of New Jersey and Consolidated Rail Inc., according to William Levinson and Barry R. Eichen of the Edison law firm of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP.

Roger Fuccilli was a railroad car repairman for New Jersey Transit for 18 years. Before that, he was employed by Central Railroad of New Jersey for about 18 months.

In the course of his duties, his attorneys said, he engaged in welding, sanding, painting and repairing brakes using asbestos and silica products in addition to breathing metal dust and welding fumes exposing him to materials that caused him to be diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in June 2000.

Roger Fuccilli, the father of four grown children including a 23-year-old son who is autistic, died in 2002 of pulmonary fibrosis, which Levinson said has a strangulation effect.

During the last two years of his life, Roger Fuccilli had to be put on an oxygen supply and during his last six months he was in the hospital on a respirator, Eichen said.

The award followed a five-week trial in the courtroom of Ann McCormick and seven and a half hours of deliberations that started on Tuesday.

The jury, the attorneys said, awarded $4.1 million for the pain and suffering Roger Fuccilli endured before he died and another $15.1 million for his wrongful death.

The panel found New Jersey Transit responsible for 50 percent of the award, Central Railroad of New Jersey for 7 percent and Roger Fuccilli for 8 percent.

The jury found Consolidated Rail Inc. was 35 percent responsible, however, that company settled for an undisclosed amount before the trial, and will compensate Catherine Fuccilli based on that confidential settlement, according to Levinson and Eichen.

The attorneys for New Jersey Transit and Central Railroad of New Jersey were not available for comment.

Copyright (c) Home News Tribune. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.

$18,500,000 Jury Verdict for Chemotherapy Caused Paraplegia

Anton Weck was permanently paralyzed from the waist down as a consequence of a mistake in the preparation of a drug administered on May 15, 2001 at Saint Peter's University Hospital. He is wheel chaired bound, incontinent, sexually impotent and dependant on others. Anton is 25 years old and will remain in this condition for the next 50 years.

May 15, 2001 was meant to be on of the happiest in Anton's life. He went to Saint Peter's University Hospital on this date for his final dose of Chemotherapy utilized to conquer Leukemia. He was to receive a standard dose of methotrexate injected into a intrathecally (into the spinal canal). Among other chemotherapeutic agents administered through other roots. He had undergone this exact procedure over 25 times in the past without any adverse affect or complication. As he walked into the hospital, he was healthy and neurologically sound.

Anton's medications were prepared at Saint Peter's on May 15, 2001 by a probationary pharmacist, defendant Jhun. Ms. Jhun had essentially no experience in preparing chemotherapeutic agents and was one of if not the most junior pharmacist on staff. She was on 3 moths probation. As a consequence of inadequacies identified during her training which had ended just a few weeks earlier. By her admission, defendant Jhun committed pharmacy malpractice.

Defendant Jhun collected al the chemotherapeutic agents that she would be preparing for each of the patient receiving chemotherapy at Saint Peter's on May 15, 2001 in a single bin. She carried the bin into the mixing room where she proceeded to mix chemotherapy for each patient consecutively. She described in her deposition that she mixed various chemotherapies (Vincristine and Methotrexate) that Anton Weck would be receiving “at the same time”. It is undisputed that this conduct fall below accepted practices and that it sets the stage for medication errors such as cause contamination and overdose. Jhun DiMatteo, the Director of Pharmacy in May of 2001 at Saint Peter's, has clearly testified that this conduct was against both good pharmacy practice and the policies and procedures of the pharmacy at Saint Peter's. Plaintiff's expert, Mark Holdsworth, Ph.D., a professor of pharmacy in pediatrics at the University of New Mexico will testify that this conduct fall below any threshold of acceptable pharmacy practice. Indeed, no expert in the field of pharmacy practice testified on behalf of Ms. Jhun.

Incredibly, much of the critical documentation which would confirm exactly what defendant Jhun did the pharmacy on May 15, 2001 is missing. It had been either intentionally or negligently misplaced or destroyed by those acting on behalf of Saint Peter's University Hospital. These documents include a detailed flow sheet which will memorialize exactly the steps taken by defendant Jhun, the type and volume of medications mixed and the cross checking procedures she followed; a pharmacy log that would memorialize similar information; and the actual order pursuant to which this pharmacist prepared the medications. Further, a twenty page evaluation form filled out over the course of her training at the Saint Peter's pharmacy is missing. The testimony of the pharmacy supervisor has confirmed that this document would contain a detailed rendition of the actual training encountered by Ms. Jhun her performance during this training, the inadequacies that she manifested and the specific reasons why she was placed on the maximum probationary period after completing her training in late April, 2001.

On August 1st, (2 weeks after that treatment)Anton was readmitted to St. Peters. He was paralyzed. Evidence which came out for the first time at trial revealed that, on June 7, the head of the pharmacy met with Ms. Jhun and discussed the Anton Weck case. Thereafter, she was disciplined and placed on an additional 3 months probation. Neither she nor the hospital ever admitted the reason for the discipline and probation. But the jury understood the significance in light of the obvious timing. The key documents went missing between June 1, 2001 and August 15 2001, when the hospital served with a Notice of Claim.Thereafter, the documents could not be found. Thus it established that the pharmacy department was aware of the possible involvement of the intrathecal medication in causing Anton's injuries on or before June 1, 2001.

Professor Holdsworth, Pharm. D. testified that defendant Jhun deviated from accepted pharmacy practices. This is undisputed. He testified that the way that defendant Jhun prepared the chemotherapy created the significant risk of cross contamination, which, with overwhelming probability, is what occurred in this case. He testified that the type and progression of neurological injury sustained by Anton is what one would expect with cross contamination of the intrathecal Methotexate with Vincristine. He will testified that no other, non-negligent, course of events would lead to this situation developing. Accordingly, the Court charged res ipsa loquitor.

On March 22, 2006, the jury returned its verdict in the amount of approximately $18,500,000.00.

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, MARCH 11, 1996
SUITS & DEALS

$750,000 Malpractice Verdict -
Feigel v. Murphy et. al.:

A Monmouth County jury awarded $750,000 Tuesday to a Tinton Falls woman who claimed that she was injured after a hip-replacement surgery at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.

Sybil Fiegel, now 54, sued the doctor who performed her surgery on Nov. 7, 1990, Bernard Murphy, and his medical group, Orthopedic Consultants Inc. of Middletown. The suit alleged that a post-operative splint placed around her left knee caused a condition called "drop foot," according to Feigel's attorney, William Levinson of Levinson & Associates in Edison. The condition prevents Feigel from lifting her foot, according to Levinson, who says that she wears a leg brace so she can walk.

Feigel claimed that Murphy placed the splint so tightly that the peroneal nerve, which allows the foot to move, was damaged.

The jury reached its verdict on the sixth day of trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John D'Amico Jr., whose law clerk confirmed the amount of the verdict. According to Levinson, interest brings the total to $861,000 for Feigel's pain and suffering.

Murphy's attorney, Richard Grossman, a partner with Grossman & Krutschnit in Brick Township, did not return a telephone message left at his office.

By Deseree Graham

Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, March 11, 1996 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

Jury awards $10.6 Million Dollars to Woman Injured in Ford Explorer Rollover

MIDDLESEX COUNTY — A Toms River woman who suffered a paralyzed right arm after her Ford Explorer rolled over was awarded a total of $10,668,799.89 in damages by a Superior Court jury in New Brunswick. Rebekah Zakrocki-Parks, 28, was injured in the morning of November 10, 2000, when the throttle on her 1997 Ford Explorer became stuck while she was on her way to work on the Garden State Parkway. When the gas pedal became unstuck, the vehicle surged forward and rolled over, causing her arm to become crushed and partially amputated when it was ejected through the sunroof during the rollover.

This case was tried by Barry Eichen with the assistance of Jack Sanders of the law firm Eichen, Levinson & Crutchlow in Edison. They claimed that there was a design defect in the throttle of the 1997 Ford Explorer that allowed sludging to accumulate on the throttle plate inside the throttle, which would cause the plate to stick closed while the vehicle was being driven. They sued Ford Motor Company and Freehold Ford, alleging that the automaker and its dealer knew from prior customer complaints that drivers were experiencing surging related to the throttles as early as 1996, and that accidents were occurring when drivers applied extra pressure to their gas pedals to overcome the accumulation of sludging, and that the throttle defect posed an even more significant danger in the Ford Explorer, because SUVs, which have a higher center of gravity than most passenger vehicles, are more prone to rollover in emergency situations.

After the accident, Rebekah was hospitalized at Jersey Shore Medical Center where reconstructive surgery was performed on her arm. In total, over 20 surgeries were performed on her arm and shoulder in order to reattach her arm.

The jury deliberated for two days following a four week trial in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Jamie Happas before announcing its verdict.

THE NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL SUITS & DEALS U.S.

Judge Awards $9.3M for Diving Injuries in Mexico

March 1998 Marazo v. Hotel Oasis Cancun: A federal judge awarded a Somerville man $9.375 million on March 11 for injuries that left him paralyzed after diving into a hotel's pool in Cancun, according to the Judge's chambers.

U.S. District Chief Judge Anne Thompson in Trenton entered a default judgment ordering Hotel Oasis Cancun and its parent company, Hotel Oasis International, to pay Richard Marazo $9.375 million. Thompson found damages in the amount of $12.5 million, but decreased the award by 25 percent because Marazo also was negligent. “Considering that this is a hotel, we're very hopeful that we'll be able to collect the award,” says Jeffrey Nichols, a partner with Manhattan's Brightner & Hoffman, who represents Marazo.

Marazo, who is 28, was vacationing in Mexico in April 1994 when the accident occurred. Marazo dove into the hotel's pool and struck his head on the concrete bottom. When he surfaced, he swam to the in-pool bar for help. The pool's bartender, who was not identified in the suit, saw Marazo was bleeding and pushed him away. Nichols says the bartender's actions contributed to his client's paralysis.

Marazo, who was a state corrections officer in Middlesex County before the injury, has undergone surgery and rehabilitation but will not fully recover from injuries. Barry Eichen of Eichen & Cahn, served as Marazo's local counsel.

The local counsel for the hotel, Lawrence Engrissei, an associate with Mount Laurel's Thomas Dempster, did not return a telephone call last week. By: Matt Ackerman

HOME NEWS TRIBUNE

Friday, November 4, 2005

Malpractice case ends in $5M award

MIDDLESEX COUNTY: A North Brunswick name who suffered a massive stroke in 1999 has been awarded more than $5 million by a Superior Court jury.

After a seven-day trial in courtroom of Judge Mathias Rodriguez and two-and a-half hours of deliberations on Wednesday, the jury found that 49-year-old Mark Hoffman received improper medical treatment after he passed out at work in October of 1998.

Hoffman through his attorney William Crutchlow of the Edison law firm EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP, filed suit against his cardiologist Alexander Karpenos of Edison in January 2001. Hoffman suffered the Stroke Jan. 29, 1999.

Crutchlow said the award, including interest, totaled $5.4 million. The award included $416,000 for lost wages and the remainder was for pain and suffering.

Crutchlow said after Hoffman passed out at Frigidaire in Edison, where he worked for 15 years, he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, rapid heartbeat, congenital heart disease and an enlarged heart.

Crutchlow presented the testimony of Joseph Grossman, a New York City cardiologist, and John Greenberg, a Somerville neurologist, and argued that if Hoffman were treated properly, the stroke would not have occurred.

AR and AR, his wife v Joseph DiTrolio, M.D., Docket No. MON-L-1245-02

MONMOUTH COUNTY: On October 5, 2007 a Monmouth County jury returned a verdict of $5,250,000 in favor of a man who had been misled into undergoing an experimental procedure aimed at shrinking his prostate. On February 29, 2000 62 year old AR underwent the procedure known as alcohol ablation at the hands of defendant Roseland urologist Joseph DiTrolio, M.D. AR was not advised of the true risks of the procedure prior to the operation and, instead, was misled through written information presented by the defendant which described the operation as easy, risk free and pain free. The consent form detailing the true risks, including that the procedure was experimental, that it was riskier than current approved therapies and that it carried unknown risks, was not signed until several days after the procedure was completed. AR went on to require corrective surgery and was left with permanent, intermittent urinary incontinence.

Jury Gives $4M to Victim of Stroke

Caused by Headache Misdiagnosis

Foster v. Falk: A Middlesex County jury awarded a $4 million on Feb. 4 t a woman found to have suffered a brain-damaging stroke because doctors failed to order tests for her headaches.

Over seven days in June 1996, Carlene Foster, now 50, complained of headaches and vomiting to three doctors at HIP of New Jersey in Edison and to an emergency room doctor at J.F.K. Medical Center, and on June 12, she suffered a stroke. The jury found each doctor 25 percent liable, says her lawyers, William Crutchlow and William Levinson of Edison’s EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP.

Superior Court Judge Yolanda Ciccone presided at trial. Foster’s expert testified that a CAT scan, which would have shown pre-aneurysm bleeding, should have been attributed to migraine headaches and that the doctors did not deviate from standards of care by not ordering a CAT scan, Foster’s lawyers say.

The doctors and their lawyers are David Falk, represented by John Orlovsky of Orlovsky, Moody, Schaaff & Gabrysiak in West Long Branch; Nancy Somer, represented by Thomas Pyle of Roseland’s Post, Polak, Goodsell, MacNeill & Strauchler; Jeffrey Rosen, represented by Donald Grasso of Orlovsky, Grasso, Bolger, Mensching, Halpin & Daley in Toms River; and Angelo Racaniello, represented by Peter Gordon of Krompier & Gordon in Parsippany.

Pyle confirms the size of the verdict but declines to comment on whether there will be an appeal.

THE NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL

SUITS & DEALS

$3.5M for Undiagnosed Birth Defect August 2001
Holloman v. Unnamed Pediatrician:

A Morris County Judge on Aug. 2 approved a $3.5 million settlement to a Flanders couple whose son was left with neurological damage due to alleged negligence of a pediatrician shortly after his birth.

Colton Holloman was born to Doris and Jason Holloman on Aug. 2, 1994, at Morristown Memorial Hospital and discharged as a well baby on Aug. 6. But the Hollomans' lawyer William Levinson, says the child suffered from Hirschprung's disease, a lack of nerve cells in a portion of the bowel resulting in obstructed bowel movements. 

Levinson says the infant's failure to pass a stool within his first 24 hours, and at most, his first 48 hours, required the pediatrician to test for Hirschprung's disease but she did not do so.

Following his discharge, the child suffered from abdominal distension, failure to thrive, failure to stool and fever. Doris Holloman called the pediatrician about these symptoms four times over the next several days, but the doctor never recommended that the baby be returned to the hospital, according to Levinson, a partner in Eichen, Levinson, Cahn & Parra in Edison. 

On Aug. 11, Colton was brought back to the hospital. He was in shock, septic and lethargic and he became hypoxic, resulting in a loss of oxygen to the brain that left him developmentally disabled, says Levinson. The child remained hospitalized for the next six and one-half months and had bypass surgery to attach the working portion of his colon to his rectum, says Levinson. 

Levinson says that the delay in treatment led to Hirschprung's acquired enterocolitis, a more toxic and damaging condition. 

The child, now 7, is mildly learning disabled and is now in first grade after being held back one year in kindergarten says Levinson. Though he is not under ongoing treatment, he will have recurring bowel problems, adds Levinson.

The Hollomans sued in 1997 on their own and their son's behalf.

Levinson says Dr. Harland Winter, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, would have testified that the pediatrician deviated from accepted standards of care in discharging the child without testing for Hirschprung's disease. A board-certified neurologist, John Greenberg, and a neuropsychologist, David Mahalick, would have testified that the child's neurological disabilities will impair his cognitive, sensory, memory, visual and auditory functions. And a life-care-plan and vocational expert, Ed Provder, concluded that the boy will require care for the rest of his life and is unlikely to be able to support himself, though both parents are successful college grads, says Levinson. 

The pediatrician was represented by E. Burke Giblin, a partner with Giblin & Combs in Morristown, who did not return a call requesting comment. 

Morris County Superior Court Judge David Cramp approved the settlement, which will fund a special needs trust, on Aug. 2 following a friendly hearing. 

Levinson's partner Barry Eichen was co-counsel on the case.
By: Mary P. Gallagher

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL
SUITS & DEALS

MIDDLESEX JURY AWARDS $3.24M FOR RADIOLOGIST'S FAILURE TO SPOT CANCER

Rodd v. Kotler: A Middlesex County jury awarded $3.24 million on April 30 in a wrongful-death case against a radiologist for failing tosspot a Sayreville woman's breast cancer in two mammograms.

Plaintiffs' lawyer William Levinson says that Maria Rodd's 1997 mammogram showed a cluster of millimeter-sized dots that should have prompted radiologist Stuart Kotler to order a needle biopsy. Instead, Kotler told Rodd the film was normal. By August 1998, the cluster had grown and there was a tumor, though it was not visible on the mammogram film. Again, Kotler told Rodd the test was normal. In January 1999, when she went to her obstetrician-gynecologist complaining of a breast lump, a biopsy found an 11-centimeter, stage-four tumor, the most advanced, says Levinson, of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP in Edison.

Rodd had a radical mastectomy and an axillary dissection of her lymph nodes; 14 of 18 nodes tested positive for cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation followed, but the cancer had metastasized, and she died in 2002 at the age of 53. Rodd's husband, Joseph, and three grown daughters sued Kotler and his employer, University Radiology of East Brunswick.

Levinson says defense radiologist Joseph Becker of Pennsylvania denied the clusters existed and defense oncologist Julian Decter of Morris County testified that Rodd would have died anyway.

Judge Douglas Hague presided at the trial. When the jury asked for a calculator during deliberations, defense counsel Rudolph Socey Jr. suggested a high-low of $500,000 to $2.5 million but Kotler refused, Levinson says. Socey, a partner with Lenox, Socey, Wilgus, Formidoni, Brown, Giordano & Casey in Lawrenceville, did not return a call requesting comment.

The jury awarded $1.7 million for pain and suffering, $1.5 million for loss of consortium and $40, 000 for wrongful death.

Levinson says University Radiology has a 10$ million policy with MIIX.

By Mary P. Gallagher

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, AUGUST 12, 1996
SUITS & DEALS
$3.3M Structured Settlement -
Porrino v. Leslie Ocher, et. al.:

The Sports and Orthopedic Rehabilitation Institute in New Brunswick and one of its physical therapists agreed to a $600,000 present- value settlement that will pay $3.3 million to a 10-year old hemophiliac whose leg was fractured by a physical therapist.

The insurer for the New Brunswick rehabilitation facility and physical therapist Leslie Ochner will pay the sum over the lifetime of Michael Porrino, of Metuchen, who suffered permanent loss of movement in his right leg as a result of fracturing his femur during a Dec. 24, 1992, circulation therapy session, according to Porrino's attorney, William Levinson of William Levinson & Associates in Edison.

Porrinoís leg was put in a cast and when it was removed, he couldn't move his knee. "The range of motion in his knee is permanently limited," Levinson says.

Middlesex County Superior Court Judge George Nicola had begun the trial before the defendants insurer, Princeton Insurance Co., made an offer, according to defense attorney Thomas Chansky. The parties tentatively agreed to the structured settlement while the jury was deliberating.  "In the eleventh hour they agreed to pay us a small amount," says Levinson. "We were moments away from a verdict."

Chansky, a partner in North Brunswick's Lynch Martin, says that the defendants were reluctant to settle with Porrino because the plaintiff's claims were so unusual. "All the doctors we talked to agreed they'd never heard of this kind of injury," says Chansky.

Nicola signed off on it three weeks ago.

By Lisa Brennan
Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, August 12, 1996 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

Federal Court awards $2.5 Million Dollars for Illegal Shooting by Newark Police Officer

NEWARK, NJ - A Newark man who suffered severe injuries after he was wrongfully shot in the stomach with a hollow point bullet by a Newark Police Officer was awarded a total of $2,589,327.38 in damages by a Federal Court in Newark.

Paul Godley, a lifelong Newark resident, was shot by the Newark Police Officer using his service revolver and Department issued hollow point bullet. The officer had claimed that he believed Mr. Godley was armed.

This case was tried by William Crutchlow and John H. Sanders II of the law firm Eichen, Levinson & Crutchlow in Edison. They claimed that the officer wrongfully shot Godley and that he was surrendering to the officer. Also that the damage caused by the bullet fragments caused Mr. Godley to suffer massive internal injuries and bleeding.

The emergency room doctor who performed lifesaving surgery to Mr. Godley testified that, by the time surgery could finally be performed, Godley had lost over 40% of his blood and had a blood pressure level that dropped to near terminal levels. Over 10 surgeries and several weeks of coma-like sedation were necessicary to keep Godley alive. A neurologist, Dr. John Greenberg, testified that Godley suffered permanent damage to his nervous system and brain as a result of the extreme blood loss.

After an agreement was reached regarding during trial as to liability, the damages portion of the trial was tried for one week to Federal Court Judge Stanley Chesler, who announced the verdict.

THE HOME NEWS TRIBUNE
BUS COMPANY WILL PAY $2 MILLION TO WIDOW

A bus company agreed to pay more than $2 million to a Plainfield woman whose husband died for injuries he received when the bus' roof was sheered off as it traveled underneath a railroad bridge, an attorney said.

Coach USA settled the case yesterday for $2,250,000, said Barry Eichen of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP Cahn & Parra who represented the plaintiff.

Henry Bresticker, 87, suffered a badly fractured skull, lapsed into a coma about 2 ½ hours after the crash, underwent surgery at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, and died at the hospital nine months later, said Eichen.

He said Bresticker and his wife, Lillian, 77, went to Atlantic City once a month, on average, and played golf three times a week.

On December 14, 1999, they took a trip to Atlantic City. A bus brought their group back to Middlesex Mall in South Plainfield, where a second bus then picked them up to bring them home.

But the bus driver deviated from his usual route, and around 8 p.m. on Clinton Avenue, near South Second Street in the city, he hit a railroad overpass that sheered off the top of the vehicle, said Eichen.

The trial had been scheduled to start Monday in Middlesex County. The attorney for the bus company could not be reached for comment.

By Michelle Sahn

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, JULY 10, 1995

SUITS & DEALS

$2.2M Malpractice Verdict -

Van Nosdall v. Sergeant:

A Middlesex County jury deliberated for one hour on June 29 before awarding $2.2 million to the widow of a man whose medication allegedly caused liver failure.

Wesley Van Nosdall of Old Bridge began taking acetaminophen with codeine for his back pain as prescribed by his doctor, John Sargeant, in September of 1983, according to Van Nosdall's attorney, William Levinson of Edison's Levinson & Associates. Van Nosdall took up to seven pills daily, Levinson says. He adds that between 1983 and February of 1991, when Van Nosdall stopped taking the medication, his elevated liver enzymes, an asymptomatic condition, were aggravated. He died on April 14, 1991, at age 59, of acetaminophen induced liver failure.

Van Nosdallís widow, Dorothy, filed suit in July 1992. The trial, before Superior Court Judge George Nicola, lasted for four days.

Levinson's expert witness, Paul LeWinter, an internist at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield, showed that elevated liver enzymes were, at best, not helped by the acetaminophen prescription.

Sargeant was represented by Thomas Chansky of Lynch Martin in North Brunswick, who did not return a telephone message left at his office.

By Deseree Graham

Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, July 10, 1996 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, JUNE 22, 1998
SUITS & DEALS

$2 Million Structured Settlement
Castro v. Kappy:

Union County Superior Court Judge John Pisansky on Tuesday approved $2 million settlement for an Elizabeth boy who was born with cerebral palsy after doctors allegedly neglected signs of fetal distress.

Cathy Castro was admitted to Newark Beth Israel Hospital on the evening of Jan. 26, 1994 by her obstetrician Kenneth Kappy to induce labor because a fetal non-stress test was nonreactive, "which was a strong indication for concern and close monitoring," says William Levinson, who represented the Castro family in the medical malpractice claim. A medical resident, John Simonetti, notified Kappy around midnight that there was fetal distress and was lead to believe Kappy was coming to deliver the baby by caesarean section, says Levinson of Levinson & Associates in Edison.

Kappy's lawyer, Stephen Mortenson, of Springfield's Mortenson & Pomeroy, says his client did not remember receiving the call from Simonetti. In the morning the baby still hadn't been delivered, so the resident obstetrician, Marilyn McArthur, called Kappy in. By then it was too late because the baby had cerebral palsy due to the loss of oxygen, Levinson says. All three doctors were named in the suit.

Mortenson says this was a compromise settlement and there was no admission of liability. In fact, the defense contends that the baby is physical problems were caused by unrelated congenital conditions, Mortenson says.

Under the structured settlement agreement, the initial $1 million disbursement is expected within 30 days of the agreement, of which Levinson is expected to receive $494,522 in fees and $21,910 for reimbursement for litigation costs. A trust will be established for the boy, Dominick Castro, with the remaining 1 million. Within 30 days, Castro can expect to receive $50,000 followed by monthly payments of $3,215, which will increase at 3 percent compounded annually. Payments are for the rest of Castro's life or 30 years which ever is longer.

The settlement is expected to yield a total of $10.3 million. Mortenson said the hospital's insurance company will pay the settlement amount. McArthur's lawyer, Stephen Schecter, a partner with Milburn's Schechner & Decker, declined to comment. Simonetti's attorney, William Lane, of Westfield's Johnstone, Stok, Loughlin & Lane, did not return telephone calls.

By Heather MacGregor
Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, June 22, 1998 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, OCTOBER 7, 1996
SUITS & DEALS

$1.8M Wrongful Death Settlement
Betcher v. Casole:

The wife of a Union Beach man who was killed in a car accident with a commercial farm truck that failed to stop at an intersection agreed to a $1.8 million structured settlement last Monday with the truck driver and his mechanic.

Patricia Betcher, the wife of Paul Betcher, 44, who was killed in the accident in Union Beach on Oct. 18, 1994, agreed to settle her wrongful death suit against the driver, Anthony Casole, 38, of Marlboro, and Nitche Sunoco on Rts. 34 and 520 in Marlboro.

The gas station paid half the settlement, according to lawyers on both sides. The accident allegedly was caused when the brakes failed on Casole's truck and he ran a stop sign. It was later discovered the truckís brakes were in terrible shape, even though the Sunoco station had inspected the truck two weeks before the accident, and it passed, according to Casole's attorney, Norman Hobbie, a partner in Middletown's Giordano Halleran & Ciesla. "The brakes were in such bad shape, how could the truck have passed inspection?" Hobbie asks. "There was no wrongdoing on the part of my client. He did not have to pay any money for punitives or excess damages."

Betcher's attorney William Levinson, the Partner in Edison's Levinson & Associates, says his client will receive $30,000 a year until she is 74.

Levinson filed suit on Patricia Betcher's behalf in December 1994. He says his client, who works as a department store check-out clerk, is set for life: "She'll be able to live without worrying. She's safe. The settlement doesn't need to be approved by a court. It's a done deal."

Marc Baldwin, a partner in Marlboro's Parker, Mckay & Criscuolo, who represents one of the insurers in the case, did not return three telephone calls last week.

By Lisa Brennan
Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, October 7, 1996 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

John Doe v. Shore Limousine

A passenger struck by a car on the Garden State Parkway after the limousine he was riding in spun out of control accepted $1.475 million from the limo's insurer on July 25, 2003. Shore limousine of Manasquan picked up Plaintiff, an engineer from Toms River, at Newark Liberty International Airport on July 17, 2001. Once on the Garden State Parkway, the driver lost control of the limo and it came to rest against a center guardrail, partially encroaching on the fast lane. Doe tried to run across the highway but was struck by another car, breaking his legs and fracturing his shoulder, says his lawyer, Barry Eichen, of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP in Edison. State Farm Insurance Company the carrier for Anthony Scarangella, the other car's driver, tendered the full extent of his $100,000.00 policy. Shore Limousine's insurer, Proformance Insurance Co., in Freehold, offered $1.375 million of a $1.5 million policy.

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, MAY 18, 1998
SUITS & DEALS

Suit Over Death After Cesarean Ends in Settlement for $1.45M
Tur v. St. Peter's Medical Center:

The widower of an Old Bridge woman, who died from internal bleeding after a Cesarean section, received $1.45 million to settle his wrongful death claims against a hospital and three doctors.

The settlement, approved on March 30 by Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Douglas Hague, was confirmed by James Murray, the civil division manager in Middlesex County. On May 8, Mark Tur received $1 million from Princeton Insurance Co., the carrier for St. Peter's Medical Center in New Brunswick and doctors Brad Cohen and Sanford White, according to the plaintiff's attorney, William Levinson of William Levinson & Associates in Edison.

The remaining $450,000 was paid by the carrier for Dr. Marcia Katz, the remaining defendant. The name of the carrier was not made public. Levinson and Katz's attorney, Jay MacNeill, a partner with Roseland's Post, Polak, Goodsell & MacNeill, declined to comment, citing a confidentiality agreement.

Tur filed suit in Middlesex County Superior Court in June 1995 as the executor of the estate of his wife, Lorraine, who was 34 at the time of her death in June 1994.

Tur's suit claimed that during the birth of their third child, his wife suffered from placenta accreta, a condition where the plancenta adheres to the uterus. He alleged that Cohen, who performed the Cesarean, failed to properly stitch the location where the placenta attaches to the uterus, causing the patient to hemorrhage. Tur also claimed that the hysterectomy performed by Dr. White failed to stop the bleeding.

Then, while Tur was in intensive care, Dr. Katz allegedly failed to notice that she was taking in a great deal of fluid intravenously but excreting very little, Levinson says. Tur died a day after giving birth.

Richard Amdur, a partner with Amdur, Boyle & Maggs in Eatontown who represents St. Peterís and Drs. Cohen and White, declines to comment on the case.

John Blumenstock, a partner with Ledy-Gurren & Blumenstock in Manhattan, was co-counsel to the plaintiffs.

By Cheryl Winokur
Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, May 18, 1998 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

THE NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL
SUITS & DEALS

STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT
March 29, 1990
Cerreto v. Cook, et al:

A 35 year-old Edison supermarket worker will receive more than $1.3 million in a settlement of an automobile negligence case against the Standard Paper Co. of Somerset.

In January 1987, Giacomo Cerreto was driving on Route 9 in Howell Township when a Standard Paper truck driven by its employee, Stanley Cook, hit the back of Cerreto's car, pushing it forward and into a garbage truck. Cerreto suffered compound fractures in both legs, which required attaching metal plates to the tibia bones. The plates caused the development of osteomyelitis, an infectious inflammatory bone disease. The disease, once contracted, can recur.

The March 20, settlement follows a ruling by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge James Kennedy granting summary judgment on the issue of liability. Cerreto will receive $260,000 in a lump sum and $850 a month for life under an annuity contract, with a 4 percent increase every year.

Barry Eichen, a solo practitioner in Edison, represented the plaintiff. Morristown's Colquhoun & Colquhoun, attorneys for PMA Insurance Services, represented defendants.

SETTLEMENT $1.2 MILLION FOR MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT (2005)

An off duty Plainfield police officer was stopped at a stop sign on First Avenue in Plainfield, New Jersey, when the driver of a tractor-trailer struck his vehicle. The defendant truck driver alleged he was only traveling 5 mph and that the impact was minimal. The plaintiff had prior neck and back injuries which were aggravated, necessitating a spine surgery. The case was handled by Barry R. Eichen of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP and was settled for $1.2 million prior to trial.

$1,050,000 Recovery- Medical Malpractice

County – Essex

In this medical malpractice action, handled by BARRY R. EICHEN, ESQ., the plaintiff, 52 at the time of the recovery, who had undergone surgery to replace a leaking mitral valve, contended that the defendant internist negligently failed to properly monitor the plaintiff’s Coumedan levels. The plaintiff as a result suffered a stroke approximately 3 ½ months after the surgery. The plaintiff also named the cardiologist who performed the surgery and who saw the patient several times in the approximate four month period between the surgery and the stroke. The plaintiff had contended that the cardiologist should also be liable for the failure to properly monitor the Coumedan levels and there was no contention that the valve replacement surgery was performed in a negligent manner.

The surgery was performed on 2-28-00. The plaintiff then commenced a course of the blood thinner Coumedan, which was monitored by the defendant internist, who was the plaintiff’s primary care physician. The plaintiff’s expert internist contended that until the physician can determine the sensitivity the patient has to Coumedan, the physician should monitor the levels twice per week. The expert related that when it has become apparent that the therapeutic levels are sustained, the monitoring can be less frequent. The plaintiff’s expert further related that the levels are measured in terms of International Normalized Ratio (INR) and should be between 3 and 4 on such a scale. The plaintiff maintained that although the defendant internist monitored the plaintiff in a timely fashion during the first several week period, he negligently failed to continue to monitor the plaintiff at sufficient intervals between this period and the time of the stroke in June. The plaintiff contended that in March, the INR levels were between 9 and 10 and that the adjustments in the dosage resulted in a drop to a level below 2. The plaintiff maintained that despite such difficulties in obtaining the proper levels, the defendant internist continued to see the patient intermittently. The plaintiff also maintained that the cardiologist should have monitored the levels when he saw the patient approximately every other month. The defendant cardiologist maintained that he could validly rely upon the internist, who was the plaintiff’s primary care physician, to properly monitor the patient.

The evidence disclosed that in June, the plaintiff saw the cardiologist with signs and symptoms of atrial fibrulation and the cardiologist planned on treating this condition through electrical cardioversion using a defibrillator. In preparation for this treatment, the cardiologist performed a transesophogeal echocardiogram and noticed signs of a blood clot. The cardiologist delayed the cardioversion, ordered that the dosage of Coumedan be elevated, but the plaintiff suffered the stroke the following day.

The defendant internist denied that the stroke was related to the Coumedan levels. The defendant maintained that the irregular heartbeat associated with the atrial fibrulation itself probably caused the clot. The plaintiff would have countered that any danger of the atrial fibrulation producing a clot rendered the need for proper monitoring of the blood thinner all the more crucial.

THE NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL
SUITS & DEALS

Borsai v. Somerset County Department of Transportation:

The Somerset County Department of Transportation agreed to a $1.05 million settlement of a suit by an elderly man suffering from Alzheimer's disease who was left on a bus in sweltering heat for three hours.

On June 29, 1999, Michael Borsai, now 72, was one of a number of elderly residents being transported home from the All Day Care Center in Bedminster Township. The driver, James Wilson, did not see that Borsai was still seated in the rear of the bus when he drove to the department's parking lot at about 3 p.m. By that time, the outdoor temperature had exceeded 90 degrees and it was very humid.

Wilson left the bus, but Borsai, because of the advanced state of his Alzheimer's condition, was unable to leave the bus by himself, says his lawyer, Barry Eichen, a partner at Edison's Eichen, Levinson, Cahn & Parra. Another Department employee spotted Borsai in the bus about three hours later.

Borsai was taken to St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick where doctors discovered that his existing vascular problems had been exacerbated by the heat and that he had developed a blood clot in a thigh. He spent three weeks in the hospital.

Wilson was fired shortly thereafter. The settlement was reached on November 30, 2001. A trial had been scheduled to begin last Monday before Somerset County Superior Court Judge Helen Hoens.

The transportation department was represented by Scott Rodgers, a partner at Somerville's Miller Robertson and Rodgers. He did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

By: Michael Booth

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, February 28, 2000
SUITS & DEALS

$1M in Medical Malpractice Case
McGann v. Wold:

A Red Bank radiologist's insurer agreed on Feb. 17 to pay $1 million to settle a claim that he misread a mammogram, causing a delay in a patient's cancer diagnosis, the plaintiff's counsel says.

William Levinson, of Edison's Levinson & Weinberg, says the evidence showed that the early stages of cancer were detectable on a mammogram taken of his client, Eileen McGann, in February 1994, but the disease wasn't diagnosed until a lump was found in November, 1995.

She then underwent surgery and chemical and radiation therapy, but surgery alone would have cured her had it been performed earlier, and the chance of a recurrence is now greater, Levinson says.

Defense lawyer Thomas Leyhane, staff counsel for Medical Inter-Insurance Exchange of Lawrenceville, did not return phone calls last week, but Levinson says the defense had prepared evidence that no warning of cancer appeared on the mammogram read by the defendant, Robert Wold, of Red Bank Radiology.

Levinson says that he asked for $1 million at the outset and rejected offers of $250,00 and $900,00.

The matter was settled at the opening of a trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Paul Chaiet.

Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, February 28, 2000 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL

SUITS & DEALS

$1M Medical Malpractice
Molnar v. Argila:

A Middlesex County jury awarded $1 million on November 17, 1999 to Jolan Molnar, a Woodbridge woman who alleged that her leg had to be amputated because three doctors failed to provide timely treatment. The jury attributed 39 percent of the injury to a previous condition, which means the plaintiff will receive $610,000, plus about $85,000 in prejudgment interest, both lawyers in the case say.

Molnar was 61 years old on Dec. 12, 1994, when she underwent colon obstruction surgery at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey . The operation was a success, but five days later she complained of numbness in her left foot.

Her lawyer, William Levinson, who heads a firm in Edison, presented evidence that the cause of the numbness was an arterial blockage that could have been diagnosed and treated quickly if an angiogram had been performed sooner or a specialist had been called in earlier than Dec. 27. Four days later, Molnar's leg was amputated below the knee.

Defense attorney John North, a partner with Woodbridge's Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith, Ravin, Davis & Himmel, argued that even if the test result and the specialist had been available earlier, the result would have been the same because it wasn't an arterial blockage that caused the leg problem. The defense presented evidence that Molnar suffered from cholesterol buildup in the small vessels, which would have worsened no matter what the defendants did.

North says he may appeal on grounds that the verdict went against the weight of the evidence. One of the defense experts was Dr. John Edora, a vascular surgeon who performed the appendectomy on Gov. Christine Todd Whitman the same week as the trial.

The plaintiff demanded a $1.5 million settlement before the trial, but North and Levinson say the defendants, covered by Medical Inter-Insurance Exchange, offered nothing.

Drs. Charles Argila and Gary Brenbart were each assessed 24 percent of the blame and Dr. David Richmond was assessed 13 percent, for a total of 61 percent.

By Henry Gottlieb
Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

SIDEWALK FALL

Jury awards $975,000 to woman

Home News Tribune Online 10/1/05

By LONNIE MACK STAFF WRITER hntmetro@thnt.com

Goncalves v. Unknown Hospital

Patient went in with various stomach ailments. His blood pressure was both high and low during a period of about 5-6 days. That patient had been sent for a CAT Scan which clearly showed a dissecting aortic aneurysm. The CAT Scan film was never read and the patient bled to death. This case was settled for $900,000.00, by attorney Barry Eichen.

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, DECEMBER 7, 1999
SUITS & DEALS

$900,000 Settlement for Hospital Negligence
Goodman v. Community Medical Center:

A Tom's River hospital has agreed to pay $900,000 to the estate of a man whose skull was fractured by his hospital roommate the day he was to be released following hip replacement surgery.

The settlement was reached Dec. 7 midway through a jury trial before Ocean County Superior Court Judge Edward Oles.

According to plaintiff's lawyer William Levinson, a partner with Levinson & Weinberg in Edison, Bill Goodman was scheduled to be released from Community Medical Center on Sept. 5, 1995. But an emergency room patient admitted on that date, Wallace Miller, was placed in Goodman's room, where he attacked Goodman at about 4:30 a.m. Miller, in a delusional state, picked up a traction bar and crushed Goodman's skull, causing brain damage and his death in April 1997 at age 72, say Levinson.

The hospital and the doctor in charge of the emergency room, Medhat El-Kharbouty, were named defendants. Levinson says Miller's psychiatric condition was improperly treated and he was placed in Goodman's room without medical detoxification or increased security.

The defense argued that the attack wasn't foreseeable, according to Levinson. Princeton Insurance Co. was the carrier for all of the defendant. Richard Grossman, partner with Brick, Grossman, Krutschnitt, Heavey & Jacob who represented the hospital, was out of the office and unavailable for comment Thursday. Martin McGreevy, a partner with Carton,Witt, Arvanitis & Bariscillo in Asbury Park who represented El-Kharbouty, did not return a telephone message left seeking comment. Joseph DiCroce, a partner with Fitzgerald, DiCroce, Maggs & McDermott in Brielle who represented Psychiatric Emergency Screening Services, did not return a telephone message left seeking comment.

By Padriac Cassidy
Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, Dec. 7, 1999 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

THE HOME NEWS TRIBUNE

$800G Settlement forTorn Scalp

MIDDLESEX COUNTY: A woman has received an $800,000 settlement for injuries she suffered at work when part of her scalp was ripped off because her hair got caught in the gears of a conveyor belt at a Cranbury Plant, her attorney said.

Nina Patel, 53, of North Brunswick settled her case against the installers of the belt and the electrician who installed the shut-off switch, said Barry Eichen of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP Cahn & Parra.

Patel packed teddy bears at Russ Berrie and Company Inc., he said. She put them on a gravity conveyor belt, then pushed them over to a motorized belt. But on August 23, 1999, the boxes started to pile up and her supervisor asked her to go under the conveyor belt and turn it of using a shut-off switch, said Eichen.

He said guards underneath the belt had been removed by maintenance workers and were never re-installed.

So, when she went underneath the belt, her hair got caught in the gears and part of her scalp was ripped off, said Eichen, adding that Patel had to have a skin graft because of her injuries.

Eichen also said Patel could have shut the belt off by pulling a line cord, instead of crawling under belt, but that line cord would have stopped the entire system, and her supervisor just wanted a portion of the belt turned off.

Eichen said he initially filed suit against Russ Berrie as well, but the court dismissed that portion, citing workman's compensation rules.

The settlement was reached on Tuesday just before jury selection began before Judge Bryan Garruto in state Superior Court, New Brunswick. Eichen said he planned to argue that the installer, W.S. Mashall Inc. in Cliffwood, and the electrician, Access Electric in Perth Amboy, should not have put the shut off button underneath the belt. But James D. Butler, the Jersey City based attorney who represented Access said his client, as well as W. S. Marshall, planned to argue that they were not responsible for the accident.

He said the decision to settle the case was a business decision.

“We maintained all along, and also maintained, at the time of the settlement, there was no culpability, but unfortunately the cost of litigation is so high that it was (an) economic (decision),” he said.

Access agreed to pay $75,000 of the settlement, while W.S. Marshall agreed to pay the rest.

By Michelle Sahn

THE STAR LEDGER

Man hurt on ice settles for $800,000

A 73 year old Edison man accepted $800,000 yesterday to settle a lawsuit claiming he was severely injured when he slipped on ice and fell outside a bank.

Harold Osborne accepted the sum in state Superior Court in New Brunswick to settle his lawsuit against PNC Bank of Edison and Petty Construction Inc., a snow removal company from the Iselin section of Woodbridge.

Barry Eichen an Edison lawyer representing Osborne said his client suffered a severe neck injury when he fell January 16, 1996.

As a result, Osborne, a retired machine operator underwent surgery but continues to suffer pain and uses a cane to walk, the lawyer said. Eichen also said Osborne suffers from lost sensation in his right hand as a result of the injury.

Osborne, who had a part-time job with a florist, was delivering flowers to the bank – then the Midlantic Bank on Thornall Street in Edison – when he slipped on a ramp leading to the entrance, according to court records. The florist was not identified in court papers and was not named as a defendant.

The bank, which later became PNC Bank, and the snow removal companies were accused in the lawsuit of failing to properly remove ice and snow from the ramp, according to Eichen.

The bank agreed to pay 75 percent of the settlement, and the snow removal company will contribute the remainder under terms of the agreement reached before the case was to be tried before Superior Court Judge Amy Piro Chambers.

Michael Tuzzio, a Tinton Falls attorney representing the bank, declined to comment.

By: Jim O'Neill

Jackson v. Unknown Airline

This was a case where the passenger in the seat in first class in front of the plaintiff leaned back, striking the plaintiff in the knee causing RSD. This condition is a neurological condition whereby the extremities turned colors and the knee and leg becomes weakened and painful. The patient treated for two years. This case settled the day of trial for $750,000.00, by attorney Barry Eichen.

$750,000 Jury Verdict for Psychological Injuries (2002)

Jury awards man $891 G

Published in the Home News Tribune 7131/02

By JONATHAN TAMARI STAFF WRITER

A jury awarded a Bridgewater man $891,000 in connection with an accident in which a United Parcel Service truck crashed into his living room Craig Hodgkiss was unhurt in the accident, but his lawyer said he suffered from post-traumatic-stress disorder and has to take medicine daily to cope.

A Somerset County jury awarded Hodgkiss $750,000 in compensation, which, with interest added, will result in an $891,000 payout from UPS, said Hodgkiss' lawyer, Daniel Epstein of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP, an Edison trial law firm.

He expects UPS to appeal. Mario Colitti, an attorney who represented UPS in the case, did not return a phone call yesterday seeking comment.

The verdict was handed down Friday after a five-day trial before Superior Court Judge Frank Gasiorowski in Somerville, Epstein said.

The suit stemmed from an Oct. 19, 1998, incident in which a UPS truck jumped a curb near Hodgkiss' home and crashed into the living room of his condominium, Epstein said.

At the time, Hodgkiss' wife was holding the couple's 10-month-old baby in the rear of the unit and witnessed the accident. Hodgkiss, who did not see the crash but heard it, ushered them and a downstairs neighbor to safety, according to Epstein.

The incident, the lawyer said, caused his client permanent psychological damage.

"Many people devalue psychiatric injuries," Epstein said. "Under recent New Jersey case law, a psychiatric injury must cause significant sickness and be caused by a significant stimulus to be a viable claim. Both factors were present here."

THE NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL

SUITS & DEALS

$750,000 for Medical Malpractice

January 17, 2000

Ferguson v. An Unnamed Hospital and Two Unnamed Nurses:

A Middlesex County judge approved a $750,000 settlement on January 3 in a suit alleging that negligence by a Middlesex County hospital and two nurses led to an Edison woman's brain damage.

Jeanette Ferguson, now 63, was having symptoms of a heart attack when she went to the hospital's emergency room on Jan. 11, 1995, according to her attorney, Barry Eichen, a partner with Edison's Eichen & Cahn. Eichen says the nurses failed to monitor his client's condition and respond in a timely manner, causing permanent brain damage and a loss of short-term memory.

The parties had reached a settlement on Dec. 13 after opening statements in front of Judge Douglas Hague, according to Eichen. The nurses and the hospital were not named because of a confidentiality agreement.

Both nurses had more than 10 years of experience and should not have left Ferguson unmonitored, says Eichen.

The defendants asserted that Ferguson's brain damage was caused by the heart attack, which was brought on by a previous condition that damaged the heart about seven years earlier, Eichen says. The defense also argued that Ferguson had previously undergone coronary artery bypass surgery, smoked three packs of cigarettes a day and had not seen a doctor for seven years before the hospitalization on Jan. 11, 1995, according to Eichen.

While acknowledging that Ferguson was a smoker, Eichen says that habit did not detract from the medical providers' alleged negligence.

“Just because she smoked three packs a day doesn't mean that she should not have been monitored,” Eichen says.

Ferguson says his client may have been left unmonitored for up to five minutes, while the defense argued that she was unmonitored for no more than a minute.

The hospital was represented by Donald Ottaunick, a partner at Hackensack's Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman& Leonard. The nurses were represented by Daniel Hurley, a partner with Short Hills' Hurley & Vasios, and Louis Dughi, a partner with Cranford's Dughi & Hewit. None of the defense lawyers returned telephone calls seeking comment on the settlement.

By: Sandy Lovell

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, MARCH 11, 1996
SUITS & DEALS

$750,000 Malpractice Verdict -
Feigel v. Murphy et. al.:

A Monmouth County jury awarded $750,000 Tuesday to a Tinton Falls woman who claimed that she was injured after a hip-replacement surgery at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank.

Sybil Fiegel, now 54, sued the doctor who performed her surgery on Nov. 7, 1990, Bernard Murphy, and his medical group, Orthopedic Consultants Inc. of Middletown. The suit alleged that a post-operative splint placed around her left knee caused a condition called "drop foot," according to Feigel's attorney, William Levinson of Levinson & Associates in Edison. The condition prevents Feigel from lifting her foot, according to Levinson, who says that she wears a leg brace so she can walk.

Feigel claimed that Murphy placed the splint so tightly that the peroneal nerve, which allows the foot to move, was damaged.

The jury reached its verdict on the sixth day of trial before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John D'Amico Jr., whose law clerk confirmed the amount of the verdict. According to Levinson, interest brings the total to $861,000 for Feigel's pain and suffering.

Murphy's attorney, Richard Grossman, a partner with Grossman & Krutschnit in Brick Township, did not return a telephone message left at his office.

By Deseree Graham

Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, March 11, 1996 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

THE NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL

SUITS & DEALS

$748,500 for Broken Ankle

October 10, 2005

Bruno v. Saddleback Management Co.

A Middlesex County jury awarded $748,500 on Sept. 28 to a woman who broke her ankle in a fall on an uneven sidewalk outside her office in Edison. Jeanette Bruno of Edison tripped over a crack on June 4, 2003, causing a trimalleolar fracture, says her lawyer, Barry Eichen of Edison’s Eichen Levinson. It was raining and muddy water hid the uneven pavement, adds Eichen.

Bruno had a metal plate inserted in her ankle, attached with six screws. Now 43, she walks with a cane on occasion and her ankle hurts when she overdoes it, says Eichen. Future surgery might be needed to remove the plate or fuse the ankle.

Named defendants were the property owner, Ice Inc., and manager, Saddleback Management Co., both of Hackensack. Superior Court Judge Lorraine Pullen presided at the trial.

Defense counsel Gary McDonald argued that Bruno knew about the crack, which was outside her workplace. But after deliberating less than an hour, the jury found no contributory negligence. The jury awarded $600,000 for the injury, $80,000 for past and future medical expenses and $68,500 for past lost wages.

The defendants’ carrier was Ohio Casualty and the best settlement it offered was $200,000, Eichen says.

McDonald, with the Cherry Hill firm of Salvatore Alessi, confirms the verdict and doubts there will be an appeal.

-By Mary P. Gallagher

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, MAY 4, 1998
SUITS & DEALS

$650,000 Settlement
"Jane Doe" v. St. Peter's Medical Center:

"Jane Doe" was injured in November 1984 after Stephanie Duke, a second-year resident in obstetrics at St. Peter's Medical Center in New Brunswick, applied excessive force to her head during delivery, according to the plaintiffs' attorney, William Levinson, who heads a firm in Edison. The force caused permanent damage to her right arm, which had been stuck, he adds.

Under the settlement, approved by Superior Court Judge Douglas Hague on March 16, "Jane Doe" will receive payments of $951 a month for the rest of her life, with payments guaranteed for a minimum of 40 years in the event of her death. The payments will increase by 3 percent a year, for a guaranteed total of $1.34 million according to Levinson.

"Jane Doe" will also receive guaranteed payments of $30,000 a year from 2002 to 2005, and $35,000 a year from 2006 to 2008.

The settlement also provides for $8,824 in Social Security disability benefits; $172,500 for legal fees and costs; and $68,675 for "Jane Doe's" mother to care for her daughter.

The payments will be made by the Health Care Insurance Co. of Princeton, the carrier for the hospital and Duke.

Richard Amdur, who represents Duke and the hospital, says his clients deny liability. "We were concerned about the potential exposure because of the child's condition. But I still felt the case was winnable," says Amdur, a partner with Amdur, Boyle & Maggs in Eatontown.

By Cheryl Winokur

Jury Awards Fall Victim $640K

The jury deliberated about an hour: Kathy Pangborn, a 56-year-old disabled resident of an apartment complex in Middlesex County who fell on a child’s tricycle left outside her door, was awarded $640,000, including interest. The complex’s owners, Middlesex Builders, represented by Charles T. McCook Jr. of Bumgardner, Ellis, McCook & Kingsley of Clark, had permitted residents to keep toys in common areas. Pangborn required surgery and the implantation of screws and a plate in her wrist after her 2003 fall. She now has limited motion and use of her right hand. In the trial in Pangborn v. Yadau before Middlesex County Judge Lorraine Pullen, Pangborn was represented by John H. Sanders II of Eichen, Levinson & Crutchlow in Edison. Her neighbor, Bala Yadav, who owned the tricycle, was a co-defendant represented by Sean M. McDonough of Litvak & Trifiolis of Cedar Knolls.

Unknown Name v. Marlboro Psychiatric Facility

Suicide Patient admitted to Marlboro State Psychiatric Facility. He was evaluated and the doctor placed him on a category of surveillance known as “eye contact.” This surveillance category required that the patient be evaluated on a minute to minute basis until he was cleared and released from suicide watch. During this surveillance period, the two nurses took a 40 minute break and came back only to find the patient had hung himself by his own belt, resulting in his death. That case was settled by attorney, Barry Eichen, for $640,000.00 which includes waiver of any and all Medicare/Medicaid liens.

NEW JERSEY LAW JOURNAL, APRIL 22, 1996
SUITS & DEALS

$500,000 Malpractice Verdict
Thrasher v. Wishnie:

A Middlesex County jury deliberated for 45 minutes on April 11 before awarding $500,000 to an Edison woman who sued a podiatrist for his alleged failure to secure a bone in her foot.

Sharon Thrasher, now 29, consulted Peter Wishnie, who practices in Piscataway, about a bunion on her left foot. In March of 1991, Wishnie performed an elective osteotomy, a surgical procedure during which the fifth metatarsal is cut into two parts, says Thrasher's attorney, William Levinson. However, Wishnie allegedly failed to fixate one of the bones, and as a result the bone remained out of place until subsequent, extensive surgery was performed, according to Levinson, of William D. Levinson & Associates in Edison. Since then, Thrasher has permanent pain and sensitivity in her foot.

Middlesex County Superior Court Judge John Bachman, who presided over the three-day trial, confirmed the amount of the award.

Wishnie's attorney, Michael Lazarus of Corrigan & Lazarus in Springfield, was on vacation last week and could not be reached for comment.

Levinson estimates the total award, with prejudgment interest, at $566,475.

By Deseree Graham
Reprinted with permission from the New Jersey Law Journal, April 22, 1996 by American Lawyer Media, L.P.

EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP, LLP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Barry R. Eichen, Esq.

September 9, 2002 (732) 993-4808

$425,000 SETTLEMENT

FOR EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION

Barry R. Eichen of EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP, LLP on behalf of plaintiffs Greg Montano and David Orban agreed to a settlement of $425,000 with Defendants Handex Environmental. Mr. Montano of Union County and Mr. Orban of Essex County were the victims of age discrimination by their employer Handex Environmental located in Marlboro, New Jersey. “Discrimination can not be tolerated in this day and age, no matter what form it takes, no matter against whom it is designed to hurt.” Eichen said.

Their were 12 laborers performing an environmental clean-up with Handex. Montano and Orban were two of three workers over the age of 50 who were terminated as of March 30, 1999. The company alleged that the termination was a result of decreased profits/revenues.

Through a deposition of the CFO of Handex, it was discovered that the holding company's revenues increased from 1997 until 2001. Plaintiffs contended that the lack of revenues was a pre-textual explanation to disguise the age discrimination.

Plaintiffs' experts included a forensic accountant and a human resources expert. The case was settled after mediation with former Appellate Judge John E. Keefe.

About EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP, LLP

EICHEN LEVINSON & CRUTCHLOW LLP, LLP is a full service trial law firm offering personal attention and aggressive advocacy in all cases. Their lawyers have recovered over 100 million dollars in settlements and jury verdicts for the benefit of their clients over the last ten years.