Accomplishments

On May 3, 2016,  Alan J. Fumuso obtained a unanimous defendants verdict for his client, a transplant surgeon, in Supreme Court Suffolk County. The case arose out of circumstances that had garnered both local and national media attention. Specifically in 2007 a 15 year old boy died in Stony Brook Hospital. The cause of death as listed as presumed bacterial meningitis. His organs were donated for transplantation. It turned out that the cause of death was T-cell lymphoma, a deadly form of cancer. Two of the recipients died, and two had their cancerous kidneys removed and survived with chemotherapy, although they were disqualified for years to be further transplant recipients. Plaintiff’s counsel brought four separate actions against four individual transplant surgeons, alleging negligence in accepting a listed cause of death of presumed bacterial meningitis that was never confirmed by positive culture. Over the course of ten years plaintiff’s counsel had obtained verdicts and settlements in three of the actions, totaling more than “$3,000,000. The decision was made to defend the case against the kidney transplant surgeon defended by Mr. Fumuso. A three week trial ensued, with both Plaintiff and Defendant calling nationally renowned transplant surgeons as experts. The defendant transplant surgeon was on the witness stand for nine hours over three days. During summations Plaintiff’s counsel requested that the jury return $2,000,000 in damages. The jury deliberated 75 minutes and returned a unanimous verdict on behalf of the defendant.

On March 23, 2016, Jordan B. Karp obtained a defense verdict in a dental malpractice case in Supreme Court, Nassau County. The sixty-three year old plaintiff accused the defendant general dentist of negligent periodontal care and failure to timely refer to a specialist. The plaintiff attorney asked the jury to award $350,000.00. After an eight day trial, the jury deliberated for 40 minutes and returned an unanimous defense verdict.

On January 21, 2016, Alan J. Fumuso obtained a directed verdict for the Defendant on a Wrongful Death matter tried in Supreme Court Suffolk County. The case involved the death of a 79 year old woman who bled to death on the operating table as a result of a tearing of the right ventricle during a post-open heart surgery attempt to operatively address a sternal wound infection. Plaintiff called as an expert the Medical Examiner who concluded that the cause of death was “mechanical” tearing of the ventricle, secondary to operative “accident”. On cross examination Mr. Fumuso was able to undermine the basis of the opinion of the Medical Examiner. Plaintiff chose not to call an independent medical expert, and proceeded on the theory of Res Ipsa Loquitur. Mr. Fumuso made a motion to dismiss at the conclusion of Plaintiff’s case for failure to establish a prima facie case. This motion, over strenuous Plaintiff’s objection, was granted by the Court, and a directed verdict issued to the Defendant.

In October 2015, Alan J. Fumuso and Scott G. Christesen collaborated on a post trial motion that resulted in the Trial Court setting aside a verdict for the Plaintiff and directing a Verdict for the Defendant on a brain damaged infant case in Queens. The trial lasted almost two months in Queens County. The jury returned a verdict for the Plaintiff against the Defendant Obstetrician on one departure question, coupled with a proximate cause question. Extensive post trial motions were made by both parties on a number of complicated legal issues. A main point raised by the defense was that the plaintiff had failed to establish a prima facie case at trial on the issue of proximate causation. The trial court, in an eleven page decision extensively citing the cross examination by Fumuso of Plaintiff’s Obstetrical Expert, agreed with the defense that a prima facie case had not been established on the issue of proximate causation. As such, the Court ordered that the Verdict for the Plaintiff be set aside, and directed that Judgment be entered on behalf of the defendant Obstetrician.