Accomplishments

On September 7, 2022, after a two week trial in the Long Island City Courthouse of the Supreme Court, Queens County, Anthony Marino obtained a directed verdict from Justice Robert I. Caloras.  The case involved a then 16 year old plaintiff who went to see his pediatrician in August of 2015 with complaints of lower right quadrant pain.  The pediatrician advised that it was a muscle strain and advised to ice the area, rest and return if it worsened.  On September 13, 2015, he was seen in the emergency room of St. Joseph’s Hospital by the Defendant Surgeon who diagnosed severe appendicitis with possible phlegmon and proceeded to perform an open surgical appendectomy and also removed the cecum.  Post surgically, the plaintiff developed a leak at the cecum  suture site causing infections and sepsis requiring multiple antibiotic administrations through a PICC line, the insertion of drains, and surgical procedures.  The now 23 year old Plaintiff claimed that the Surgeon was negligent in performing the surgery rather than administering antibiotics first to reduce the swelling as to allow a safer procedure that would not require removal of the cecum.  Plaintiff also alleged malpractice in the management of the post-operative care and lack of informed consent.  Upon a motion for directed verdict at the end of Plaintiff’s case, the Court dismissed the case against the Surgeon.

On May 9, 2022, Anthony Marino obtained a defense verdict after a one week trial before Justice George Nolan in Supreme Court, Suffolk County. The 34 year old plaintiff alleged that the defendant doctor needlessly performed a surgical procedure to remove a bony prominence from her toe and that in doing so he removed healthy bone from her joint causing nerve and tendon damage. She also claimed that the doctor did not provide the proper information regarding the risks of the surgery so that she could give proper informed consent. As a result, the plaintiff claimed she could not walk properly, had issues with her gait, experienced persistent pain and that her left foot was “clawed” and deformed. She also claimed that the condition was permanent and suggested the jury award $460,000.00 in damages. After testimony from the parties, expert witnesses and the plaintiff’s mother, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the doctor on all claims in less than an hour.

On March 22, 2022, Alan J. Fumuso, in one of the first trials since the reopening of the Courts after the COVID pandemic, obtained a defendants verdict after a two week trial in Supreme Court Nassau County before Judge Leonard Steinman. The 28 year old male Plaintiff alleged that the defendant Oral Surgeon was negligent in the removal of  plaintiff’s 3rd molar teeth, and did so without obtaining an appropriate Informed Consent, resulting in damage to the plaintiff’s inferior alveolar nerve. The plaintiff during the trial established that he had permanent altered sensation to his lip and chin. Plaintiff’s allegations included alleged failure to perform a pre-extraction CBCT scan, failure to perform a coronectomy as an alternate procedure, improper post extraction treatment, and failure to make timely referral to a microsurgeon for reparative surgery. Expert witnesses were called on both sides, and all parties took the stand. After deliberating for 3 hours, the jury returned a unanimous verdict on behalf of the defendants.

On August 3, 2020, Partner, James F. Farrell, Jr., assisted by Senior Associate, Michelle C. Acosta, secured a defense verdict on behalf of a Suffolk County Neuroradiologist in Supreme Court, Suffolk County. This was a continuation of a medical malpractice action in which the trial had started on February 11, 2020 and continued until March 16, 2020 when trial was suspended due to the pandemic. The trial resumed on July 27, 2020 and resulted in a unanimous verdict for the defendant on August 3rd. The action was brought on behalf of a then 2 month old male in which it was claimed that the defendant failed to diagnose the presence of a arachnoid cyst in the right middle cranial fossa, which was found on an MRI performed 18 months later and had grown to approximately 9 cm in its greatest dimension. Plaintiff’s counsel claimed there was a failure to timely diagnose and treat the arachnoid cyst causing compression of the brain and neurological injuries rendering the child cognitively impaired and in need of lifetime care.

The defense argued that the plaintiff was not injured by the cyst, the child’s brain had failed to develop normally and there was a complete absence of radiological evidence and/or neurological signs or symptoms related to the presence of the cyst. The defense also argued that the subsequent MRI failed to disclose evidence of compression or injury to the brain. The defense also argued that the child’s condition was caused by Autism, which is of genetic origin although a specific genetic defect had not been identified.

After a trial that spanned six weeks before the pandemic and an additional week starting July 27, 2020, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict in favor of our client despite plaintiff’s request for $5,750,000 in past and future pain and suffering, approximately $3,000,000 in future lost wages and millions of dollars for therapies and lifetime custodial care.