$1,000,000 for a Woman Who Suffered Multiple Surgeries Following Medical Malpractice

Our client underwent the removal of an ovary, and during the procedure, her ureter was injured causing urinary difficulties which resulted in multiple additional surgeries. 

Court and County  

Supreme Court, Kings County  

Client Description 

Our client was a 40-year-old female social worker at the time of the malpractice and 48 years old at the time of resolution. 

Case Summary 

Our client was a 40-year-old woman who underwent an operation to remove both ovaries on September 16, 1997. The surgery was performed by Dr. Ahmad M. Jaber at Lutheran Medical Center.  

The operating surgeon departed from good and accepted medical practice by failing to identify, and protect, the patient’s ureter during the surgery.   

Injuries and Damages 

The ureter is the duct that takes urine from the kidney to the bladder.  The ureter and ovaries are in close proximity to one another.  The injured patient required a right-sided nephrostomy, which is a procedure done to drain the urine from the kidney using a catheter, as a result of the obstruction.  

The patient, our client, had numerous surgeries including a pubovaginal sling, in which a surgeon used the patient’s own tissue, to make a sling under her urethra. The tissue is often taken from a patient’s abdomen because it’s strong and flexible.   

The pubovaginal sling is a procedure often used to treat urinary incontinence.  Patients often suffer incontinence while coughing, sneezing, laughing, exercising, or lifting something heavy.  Our client’s obstruction was caused by ligating and/or mechanically obstructing the ureter which led to the need for additional surgeries and treatment.

Settlement Amount 

Our attorneys settled with the doctor’s insurance carrier prior to trial for $1,000,000, which was the entirety of the doctor’s insurance policy. Our firm then proceeded to trial against Lutheran Medical Center, after settling with Dr. Jaber, on the theory that Lutheran Medical Center had violated its own bylaws and Public Health Law §2805-j in re-credentialing Dr. Jaber. 

Our firm presented evidence and argued that Lutheran Medical Center should have considered Dr. Jaber’s entire history of malpractice cases before re-credentialing him and, in light of the number of malpractice actions brought against him, should have conducted additional investigations or denied or restricted the doctor’s privileges. The Defendant presented evidence and argued that Lutheran Medical Center did review Dr. Jaber’s entire file and was only required to consider “pending,” but not prior, cases.   

Lutheran Medical Center’s data bank held evidence of eight medical malpractice cases asserted against Dr. Jaber. Dr. Jaber submitted in his application to renew his privileges, that there had been six medical malpractice cases filed against him.  Our firm presented evidence showing that Dr. Jaber had 21 prior medical malpractice actions against him over the course of his career.  

The jury found for our client at the trial stage, but the Defendant, Lutheran Medical Center, asked the Court to set aside the jury’s verdict and find for the Medical Center as a matter of law.  The trial judge granted the Defendant’s motion and found for the Defendant.  Our firm appealed the case to the Appellate Division, Second Department.  The Appellate Division agreed with Lutheran Medical Center and held that the Defendant did not act in violation of their own bylaws or the Public Health Law, even though the doctor was named as a defendant in other medical malpractice cases prior to being recredentialed.

Handling Attorneys 

Jeffrey A. Block and Stephen J. Murphy