Finkelstein Highlighted Call for Ban on Multi-dose Vials
Medical malpractice cases in Long Island have sparked a call for a ban on multi-dose vials. Dr. Harvey Finkelstein of Dix Hills was highlighted as the person having the most malpractice settlements than any other pain-management specialist.
The health department was spotlighted in November after it was revealed it waited three years before advising the public that Finkelstein reused syringes in multidose vials, exposing patients to blood-borne pathogen infections such as hepatitis B and C and HIV/AIDS because of shoddy injection practices. The state Department of Health contacted nearly 11,000 of Finkelstein’s patients, urging them to be tested. Because of his practices, one patient contracted hepatitis C; six other patients tested positive for hepatitis B and six more for hepatitis C. Unbelievable that Finkelstein—who has far more malpractice settlements than any other pain-management specialist on Long Island and, in 1995, was sued, on average, once or twice yearly—remained under the radar for so long.