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Last week, Utica neurosurgeon Frank Boehm, Jr., pleaded guilty to possessing and intending to distribute prescription drugs. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Utica surgeon faces up to 20 years in prison and a one million dollar fine. As part of his plea, Dr. Boehm acknowledges that he was responsible for distribution of 58 grams of OxyContin-based drugs.

Dr. Boehm was licensed to practice medicine in the State of New York in 1985. At times during his career, he was on the medical staff at Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare and St. Elizabeth Medical Center, and was employed by Slocum-Dickson Medical Group in New Hartford. Dr. Boehm’s medical record includes two “above average” medical malpractice settlements in 2005 and one “average” medical malpractice settlement in 2007. The details of those cases and settlements, which are not an admission of malpractice, are confidential.

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The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologsts, lead by Syracuse OBGYN RIchard A. Waldman, M.D., recently released a position statement on New York State bill S5007/A8117 which, once signed into law, will repeal a state requirement that certified nurse midwives execute “written practice agreements” with hospitals and doctors. In sum, the new law will permit midwives to manage low-risk deliveries, which account for 60-80% of all births, completely independent from a medical doctor or hospital facility. ACOG insists that the “written practice agreements” remain in place to ensure the safety of pregnant women by requiring that a doctor or hospital be available in the event of an obstetrical emergency.

According to Syracuse birth injury lawyer Michael A. Bottar, the passage of the Midwife Modernization Act may contribute to a rise in preventable birth injuries, such as cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy, from at-home births that appear “low-risk” but evolve into complicated deliveries due to, e.g., umbilical cord compression, shoulder dystocia, fetal distress and/or maternal hemorrhaging. Simply stated, a “low-risk” birth can become a “high-risk” birth in a matter of seconds and, where a laboring mother and fetus attended to by a midwife (who is not qualified to perform a cesarean section), a mother and baby may suffer harm before there is time to relocate to a hospital for surgical or therapeutic intervention. This is why, according to American Medical Association Resolution 205 (2008), “the safest setting for labor, delivery and the immediate post-partum period is in a hospital or birthing center within a hospital.”

At the present time, there are approximately 1,000 licensed midwives practicing in the State of New York, with more than one-half practicing in and around New York City. The balance are spread around the State, with roughly 50 practicing in and around Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica, Herkimer, Oneida, Oswego and Watertown.
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Syracuse medical malpractice lawyer Anthony S. Bottar, managing partner of Bottar Law, PLLC, one of Upstate New York’s oldest law firms with a practice limited to medical malpractice, wrongful death, birth injuries, work injuries, brain injuries, and product/premises liability, was elected president of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, an organization dedicated to protecting, preserving and enhancing the civil justice system.

The New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers boasts a membership of more than 1400 judges, law clerks, law firms, lawyers, paralegals and law students, including: Syracuse medical malpractice lawyers handling cases concerning stroke misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose cancer and failure to prevent a heart attack; Syracuse work injury lawyers handling cases concerning construction site accidents, scaffolding accidents and injuries caused by a fall from a height; Syracuse birth injury lawyers handling cases concerning fetal hypoxia and ischemia, cerebral palsy and Erb’s palsy; Utica brain injury lawyers handling cases concerning concussions, post-concussion symdrome and TBI; Watertown medical malpractice lawyers handling cases concerning Samaritan Medical Center negligence and Fort Drum physician mistakes; and Watertown injury lawyers handling New York State Thruway accidents.

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To err is human. Doctors, nurses and hospitals are no exception. According to a study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, as many as 10-15% of medical diagnoses are wrong. That data, taken from patient autopsies, paints a fairly accurate picture about Syracuse medical malpractice lawsuits for mistakes made by local practitioners and at area hospitals, like Crouse Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, University Hospital and Community General Hospital. That is, most patients receive proper medical care, but nearly 2 in 10 will not.

Should I call a Syracuse medical malpractice lawyer to find out if I have a case? The short answer is yes. As your time to file a lawsuit is limited, you should call sooner, rather than later. In an effort to provide some guidance to the victims of medical malpractice, we will attempt to identify five warning signs of medical negligence:

ONE: Be concerned if, despite treatment for your illness, you do not get better (be very concerned if you in fact get worse). After settling on a diagnosis, whether or not it’s the correct one, many health care professionals choose not to look further. No one wants to admit that they were wrong. Seek a second opinion, as the diagnosis you carry may be incorrect!

TWO: Be concerned if your diagnosis does not seem to match your symptoms. We all have access to the internet. Search the web to see if your symptoms are consistent with the diagnosed condition. If not, you may have been misdiagnosed. Good sources of information about your symptoms and your condition include WebMD (www.webmd.com) and YourDiagnosis (www.yourdiagnosis.com), as well as WD (www.wrongdiagnosis.com). Take this information to the doctor who diagnosed you, or to a new doctor, and ask questions. Help your doctor help you!

THREE: Be wary of a diagnosis based solely upon a single lab test. Labs can be wrong. Make sure that your doctor questions the lab results and, if a very serious condition, request that a second lab perform an analysis.

FOUR: Be concerned if your doctor attributes common complaints to an uncommon diagnosis. Often, a headache without more is, well, just a headache.

FIVE: Challenge a diagnosis that can be confirmed or ruled-out with a test that you have not received. If there is a test that will paint a complete picture for your doctor, you should receive it. If it has not been recommended, ask for it (see sign TWO, supra – do research)! The failure to diagnose a condition is often due to the decision not to order a test when the test was indicated.

While a medical malpractice lawsuit cannot fix the physical damage caused by a misdiagnosis or a failure to diagnose, but it can help to secure funds so that you and your family can attempt to live a normal life despite your losses, which may include permanent disability due to a surgical error, wrongful death due to nursing negligence, limb loss due to infection, or brain damage due to medication errors. A lawsuit may also recover future medical costs and restore economic losses, such as lost wages and benefits.
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Last week, Aaron J. Ryder, Esq., a Syracuse medical malpractice lawyer with Bottar Law, PLLC, secured $900,000.00 in compensation from a group of north country defendants, including several emergency room physicians working at a Watertown-area hospital. The Watertown emergency room malpractice lawsuit alleged that the defendants’ collectively failed to diagnose a carotid artery occlusion before the plaintiff suffered a stroke that caused a partial loss of use of one arm, partial loss of use of one leg, speech and memory deficits, and a permanent seizure disorder.

In sum, the 51 year old plaintiff presented to the emergency room on day 1 with complaints of a headache and lower extremity weakness. She was discharged with a diagnosis of back pain. She returned on day 23 with ongoing complaints of lower extremity weakness and decreased muscle control. She was again discharged with a diagnosis of back pain. She returned on day 24 with complaints of jumbled thoughts, blurred vision, lower extremity weakness, decreased lower extremity sensation, and was observed dragging her foot while walking. She was discharged with no diagnosis. On day 25, the plaintiff suffered a stroke. The stroke prevented blood from reaching her brain, causing brain damage.

As the plaintiff was permanently totally disabled before the stroke, for reasons unrelated to the lawsuit, she did not have a claim for lost wages. The $900,000.00 recovery was for her past and future pain and suffering.

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If you, your child, or a family member have been injured due to medical negligence, you and your loved ones may be entitled to compensation. But, just like there are all kinds of doctors — good and bad — there are also all kinds of lawyers — good and bad. Who you select to represent you is paramount.

Unlike the typical personal injury case, a medical malpractice case requires a very specific skill set. Not every Syracuse personal injury lawyer has the skill, experience and resources to handle a medical malpractice case that costs $50,000.00 to prosecute and, while many lawyers accept medical malpractice cases, very few in Central New York have a nearly 30 year track record of success.

When selecting a Syracuse medical malpractice lawyer make sure you pick a lawyer that knows his/her medicine. While your lawyer need not be a doctor to win your case, he/she certainly needs to understand anatomy, or be willing to learn through research and consultation with experts. Make sure you also check to see if your lawyer, like the attorneys at Bottar Law, PLLC, has been selected for membership in peer review organizations such as The Best Lawyers In America, SuperLawyers, the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Lawdragon, etc. Inquire about whether your lawyer has, like Anthony S. Bottar, Esq., ever been named Syracuse personal injury lawyer of the year. Ask your lawyer how long he/she has been advocating for patients and their families. Experience counts.

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A malpractice claims analysis was recently published by CNY HealthPro, in conjunction with the Nurses Service Organization. The analysis reviewed nurse practitioner lawsuit claims data in an effort to increase medico-legal awareness, decrease nurse practitioner malpractice and prevent patient injuries from nurse practitioner mistakes.

According to Syracuse New York nurse practitioner error lawyers Bottar Law, PLLC, nurse practitioners are increasingly becoming the focus of malpractice cases because of the growing role they play in dispensing medical care. According to the HealthPro/NSO report, the highest number of claims against nurse practitioners arose out of care provided in the medical care office. Nurse practitioner specialties with the most claims against them included adult/geriatric NPs, family NPs, and pediatric/neonatal NPs. The most severe claims — meaning those with the most significant injury to the claimant — conerned care that was or should have been provided by a pediatric/neonatal nurse practitioner. The largest settled claims involved a pediatric/neonatal NP’s failure to diagnose.
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A recent National Institutes of Health panel announced that VBACs are not as dangerous as once believed, and that OBGYNS should reduce the barriers to women who want to try vaginal birth after cesarean section (VBAC). According to Central New York uterine rupture lawyers Bottar Law, PLLC, VBACs are still dangerous.

In 1980, the NIH released a similar report, in which it encouraged doctors to permit vaginal deliveries after a prior cesarean section incision has weakened a pregnant mother’s uterus, exposing her to increased risk for rupture and hemorrhaging. VBACs rose through the 1990s from 3% to 23%, but have decreased in frequency since 1996, to 8.5% in 2006. In 1999, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) revised its guidelines to practitioners from “encouraging” VBACs to pregnant mothers, to “offering” VBACs as an “option.” Shortly thereafter, as many as 30% of hospitals prohibited VBAC deliveries.

While encouraging more VBACs, the NIH panel conceded there was “moderate evidence” of a “clear increased risk of uterine rupture in trial of labor compared to an elective repeat cesarean delivery” and noted that uterine rupture “can be catastrophic and remains the most dreaded short-term complication of a trial of labor.”

In terms of risks to an unborn baby, the NIH panel found “moderate evidence” of “increased perinatal mortality and low-grade evidence of increased fetal mortality.” It concluded that there was “insufficient data on the incidence of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in cases of VBAC versus repeat cesarean sections.” Hypoxia and ischemia can lead to cerebral palsy.
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With Spring comes more sunshine and more time outdoors for Central New York residents, including children living in Syracuse, Ithaca, Oswego, Utica, Rome, Herkimer, Watertown and Binghamton. At the same time, more time outdoors means more exposure to Lyme Disease. Syracuse New York Lyme Disease lawyers Bottar Law, PLLC, warn residents to check their arms and legs for ticks!

Lyme Disease is a largely tick-borne disease that is passed to humans through a bug bite, which is usually followed by a rash and/or bulls eye shaped red mark. Additional signs and symptoms include a flu-like feeling, fever, chest congestion, headache, nausea, and joint pain. Unfortunately, a Lyme Disease rash is often misdiagnosed as poison ivy or ringworm. Other symptoms are commonly confused with the flu or a musculoskeletal injury.

The failure to diagnose Lyme Disease can have devastating consequences, including brain damage due to meningitis, heart damage due to infective endocarditis, Lyme arthritis and Bells’ Palsy. Generally, Lyme Disease is diagnosed by a blood test and, if positive, is treated with either oral or intravenous amoxicillin (depending upon the stage of the disease).
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Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn is a very serious condition where a baby’s circulatory system does not adapt properly to life outside of the womb. While in utero, a fetus obtains oxygen from the placenta through the umbilical cord. Because there is no real need for the lungs before a baby is born, a fetus maintains high lung pressure which causes blood to steer away from the lungs and toward other developing organs via a “switch” known as the ductus arteriosis.

After birth, a baby needs to breathe. In babies with PPHN, the ductus arteriosis does not close on day one of life, leaving blood directed away from the lungs and low blood oxygen levels. While many babies suffer from PPHN due to a birth injury, according to Binghamton New York birth injury lawyers Bottar Law, PLLC, a recent study also links PPHN to maternal consumption of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Symbyaxm Celexa, Cymbalta, Effexor and Lexapro.

The study reported a shocking statistic. That is, that women who took SSRIs during their third trimester were six times more like to deliver a baby diagnosed with PPHN after birth (usually within 12 hours, if not sooner). A failure to diagnose persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn can result in damage to a baby’s brain, kidneys and liver. Many babies with PPHN are diagnosed with cerebral palsy secondary to PPHN oxygen deprivation.
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