Title: Donna M. Lang v. James P. Newman

State: new-york

Issuer: New York Appellate Court

Document:

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This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before
publication in the New York Reports.
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No. 103  
Donna M. Lang, 
            Respondent, 
        v. 
James P. Newman et al.,
            Defendants, 
Russell J. Firman, 
            Appellant.
Timothy S. Brennan, for appellant.
Robert E. Lahm, for respondent.
MEMORANDUM:
The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed,
with costs.
Plaintiff was transported to a hospital in January 2003
after awakening with numbness on the left side of her body,
slurred speech and facial drooping.  After arriving in the
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No. 103
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emergency room, she also developed a headache.  Plaintiff was
initially treated by defendant James P. Newman, D.O., but his
shift ended and defendant Russell J. Firman, M.D., assumed
plaintiff's care.  Dr. Firman ordered a CT scan but the test did
not definitively rule out the possibility that there was bleeding
in plaintiff's brain.  A routine neurological examination
revealed no abnormalities and plaintiff was administered
medication to treat her headache.  Plaintiff declined a more
invasive procedure to determine if her brain was bleeding and was
subsequently discharged with the final diagnosis of a migraine
headache.
Shortly after her discharge, plaintiff was examined by
her primary care physician, who believed plaintiff may have been
experiencing a stroke.  Plaintiff was sent to a hospital in
Syracuse where an MRI test indicated that she had suffered an
ischemic stroke on the right side of her brain.  Shortly
thereafter, she was admitted to a different hospital where she
was given anticoagulant medication to lessen the clotting of her
blood and decrease the possibility of a second stroke.  As a
result of her stroke, plaintiff suffered permanent injuries.
Plaintiff commenced this action against Drs. Newman and
Firman, and their medical groups.  Although the jury determined
that Firman was not liable for failing to administer an
anticoagulant drug, it found him liable for failing to admit
plaintiff to the hospital and that such negligence was a
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No. 103
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substantial factor in causing her injuries.  The other defendants
were found not liable.  Plaintiff was awarded $300,000 in damages
for past pain and suffering.  The Appellate Division affirmed
over a two-Justice dissent, concluding that the verdict was
supported by legally sufficient evidence.  We agree.
Evidence is legally insufficient to support a verdict
if "there is simply no valid line of reasoning and permissible
inferences which could possibly lead rational men to the
conclusion reached by the jury on the basis of the evidence
presented at trial" (Cohen v Hallmark Cards, 45 NY2d 493, 499
[1978]).  Plaintiff's expert testified that if Firman had
admitted plaintiff to the hospital rather than discharging her,
the stroke would have been diagnosed, she would have been given
an anticoagulant, and the failure to administer that medicine
resulted in "a little larger stroke than she should have had if
she was properly treated."  Despite the fact that the expert also
stated that it was "very hard to quantify" precisely how much
additional damage plaintiff suffered as a result of Firman's
negligence, we cannot say that the jury's finding of liability on
this theory was "utterly irrational" (id.) or that no basis of
proof existed to support the verdict.  Consequently, the verdict
was based on legally sufficient evidence.  
Finally, Firman's challenge to the consistency of the
verdict is unpreserved and there is no merit to his contention
that the damages were speculative.
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No. 103
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Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.  Chief Judge Lippman
and Judges Ciparick, Graffeo, Read, Smith, Pigott and Jones 
concur.
Decided June 9, 2009