New York Medical Malpractice

Newsday listed what they feel are David Paterson’s Long Island to-do list. Among the many todos, deal with the ongoing medical malpractice issue. Specifically, implement reforms that reflect the needs of all involved.

Making sure medical malpractice insurance is affordable for the state’s doctors is a real challenge. With obstetricians on Long Island already paying, on average, $177,880 a year, double-digit premium increases could drive doctors to relocate.

There are signs that the debate has moved beyond the fight over capping noneconomic damages awarded in lawsuits. That’s progress. The state needs nuanced reforms that reflect the concerns of consumers, insurance companies, doctors and patients harmed as a result of negligent care. It’s a tall order.

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.

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