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Medical Malpractice

Police & Fire
License Permanently Stripped From NJ Doc Who Let 20-Year-Old ER Patient Die License Permanently Stripped From NJ Doc Who Let 20-Year-Old ER Patient Die
License Permanently Stripped From NJ Doc Who Let 20-Year-Old ER Patient Die UPDATE: An ER doctor had her medical license permanently revoked by the state of New Jersey for allowing a 20-year-old patient to die on her watch and then trying to cover it up, authorities said. Shar Kennett, 66, of Wayne was on duty in the emergency room at Overlook Medical Center in Summit when the patient was brought in with urgent "respiratory distress" on June 29, 2017, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. Kennett failed to examine him and didn't order any diagnostics, "despite his parents' urgent requests for assistance," Platkin said on Thursday, April 18. The patient died in…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
NJ Hospital Must Pay $3M To Family Of Mom Who Died Of Flesh-Eating Bacteria NJ Hospital Must Pay $3M To Family Of Mom Who Died Of Flesh-Eating Bacteria
NJ Hospital Must Pay $3M To Family Of Mom Who Died Of Flesh-Eating Bacteria A New Jersey hospital must pay $3 million to the family of a woman who died from a flesh-eating bacteria nearly seven years ago. A Camden County Superior Court jury awarded the money to the family of 54-year-old Adrienne Nock — who visited Jefferson Washington Township Hospital visited twice with symptoms before she died in 2017, according to the law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky.  Nock, of Franklinville, was remembered as a "beloved" client advocate for the Camden County Board of Social Services. The lawsuit said Nock went to Jefferson Washington Township Hospital on …

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by Chris Spiker
Legal
Woman Partially Paralyzed By Childbirth Epidural Agrees To $13.5M Settlement With NJ Hospital Woman Partially Paralyzed By Childbirth Epidural Agrees To $13.5M Settlement With NJ Hospital
Woman Partially Paralyzed By Childbirth Epidural Agrees To $13.5M Settlement With NJ Hospital A woman who was left paralyzed in her lower legs after childbirth reportedly has agreed to a $13.5 million settlement of a lawsuit against Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Alexandra Mejia was 18 and pregnant with her first child when she was admitted to the New Brunswick hospital on Oct. 25, 2019, according to a story published in the New Jersey Law Journal. A delayed diagnosis of blood that pooled in her lower back because of an epidural left her partially paralyzed, unable to walk and forced to use a catheter to urinate, it says. An obstetric anesthesiologist noticed heavy bleedi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Legal
$2.25M Settlement Reached For Botched Hernia Surgery That Perforated Passaic County Man's Bowel $2.25M Settlement Reached For Botched Hernia Surgery That Perforated Passaic County Man's Bowel
$2.25M Settlement Reached For Botched Hernia Surgery That Perforated Passaic County Man's Bowel UPDATE: A Passaic County man whose bowel was perforated during hernia surgery, leading to severe and permanent complications, has reportedly reached a $2.25 million settlement of his medical malpractice suit. Vincent Dominianni, 54, of Totowa had the elective surgery in January 2019, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. He returned to the hospital the next day complaining of pain, constipation and a bloated abdomen, it says. The surgeon, Dr. Melissa Warta, ordered a CT scan and prescribed pain medications for what lawyers said she described as “normal post-operative findings" after an evalu…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
More Patient Sex Abuse Charges For NJ Doctor More Patient Sex Abuse Charges For NJ Doctor
More Patient Sex Abuse Charges For NJ Doctor Patient sexual abuse charges continue to rack up for one New Jersey urgent care doctor. Yet another one of Gurvindra Johal's former patients has stepped forwarding, alleging the 55-year-old physician sexually assaulted them in Middlesex County, authorities said. On Tuesday, April 4, Johal, of the Colonia section of Woodbridge, was charged with an additional count of criminal sexual contact, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said. The investigation now includes a woman who alleges that Johal touched her inappropriately while under his care at Amboy Urgent Care,…

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by Jon Craig
News
Former Drexel Neurology Chair Who Sexually Abused Patients Dies By Suicide In Jail: AP Former Drexel Neurology Chair Who Sexually Abused Patients Dies By Suicide In Jail: AP
Former Drexel Neurology Chair Who Sexually Abused Patients Dies By Suicide In Jail: AP Drexel University's former chairman of the neurology department convicted of sexually assaulting patients died by suicide in a New York City jail, sources tell the Associated Press. Dr. Ricardo Cruciani was found unresponsive in a shower area of the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island Monday, Aug. 18, the AP reports. The 68-year-old doctor's attorney confirmed that he died but not the manner of death. Cruciani, who was facing life in prison, allegedly got dozens of female patients hooked on painkillers he prescribed before sexually abusing them over the course of 15 years at area h…

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by Nicole Acosta & Cecilia Levine
News
Palisades Park Woman, 73, Charged With Killing Baby Palisades Park Woman, 73, Charged With Killing Baby
Palisades Park Woman, 73, Charged With Killing Baby UPDATE: A 73-year-old Guatemalan national living in Palisades Park who was charged with the death of an 11-month-old baby allegedly had been treating people in the area for years -- including the dead infant's older brother. Elida Catalan-Medina was charged earlier this week with aggravated manslaughter and illegally practicing medicine for giving baby Genesis a fatal dose of magnesium, olive oil and water to treat constipation, court documents show. Enma Medina, 38, who lives across town, took the infant to Medina-Ramos's home last Dec. 7 because the infant was sick, according to an affida…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Jersey Shore Doc Admits Sexual Contact With Drug-Abusing Patient, Cuts Deal With State Jersey Shore Doc Admits Sexual Contact With Drug-Abusing Patient, Cuts Deal With State
Jersey Shore Doc Admits Sexual Contact With Drug-Abusing Patient, Cuts Deal With State A Monmouth County physician is having his license suspended for three years for "inappropriate sexual contact" with a substance-abusing patient for whom he also prescribed addictive drugs, state authorities said. Francis Rienzo, 60, of Sea Girt, is currently "winding down" his private practice as part of an agreement with the state through which he will avoid more serious consequences, they said. Rienzo, who also is the medical director for several treatment centers across New Jersey -- and a staff physician at Jersey Shore Addiction Services and Hackensack Meridian Health in Neptune -- "ad…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Doc Accused Of Reckless, Harmful Breast, Penile Enlargement Injections In NJ, NY, CT, PA Doc Accused Of Reckless, Harmful Breast, Penile Enlargement Injections In NJ, NY, CT, PA
Doc Accused Of Reckless, Harmful Breast, Penile Enlargement Injections In NJ, NY, CT, PA An internist with little formal training has been recklessly injecting a hazardous dermal filler into patients seeking breast and penis enhancements -- often with extremely harmful results -- at dozens of offices in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, authorities charged. Toting the product around in duffle bags, Dr. Muhammad A. Mirza of Cedar Grove has seen up to 30 patients a day in what some described as a “small storage closet” and “closet area with a bench,” Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said Tuesday. Some patients said that Mirza didn't wear a mask…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Clifton Ortho Doc Who State Said Freely Doled Out Opioids Permanently Barred From Practice Clifton Ortho Doc Who State Said Freely Doled Out Opioids Permanently Barred From Practice
Clifton Ortho Doc Who State Said Freely Doled Out Opioids Permanently Barred From Practice UPDATE: A Clifton orthopedic surgeon who prescribed addictive opioid painkillers to patients who abused, sold or otherwise didn't need them was permanently barred from practicing medicine or prescribing drugs in New Jersey, state authorities announced Monday. Evangelos Megariotis – who owned and operated Clifton Orthopedic Associates -- told one patient that "anything that drugs can do on the street, my medications will do better and safer,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. "Just call me,” Grewal quoted him as saying. Megariotis also treated patient complaints of hypertension…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Seven Charged With Homicide In Death Of Soccer Great Diego Maradona Seven Charged With Homicide In Death Of Soccer Great Diego Maradona
Seven Charged With Homicide In Death Of Soccer Great Diego Maradona Authorities in Argentina have charged seven medical professionals in the death of soccer legend Diego Maradona. Maradona, considered one of the greatest soccer players of all time, died of a heart attack in Buenos Aires last November after undergoing surgery for a blood clot on his brain just two weeks earlier. He was 60. Family members’ concerns prompted an investigation that included a raid on the home and private clinic of neurosurgeon Leopoldo Luque, various news outlets reported. Then came the bombshell announcement that Luque and six others – including Maradona’s psychiatrist and two…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
‘Predator In White Coat’: Feds Seek Sex Abuse Victims Of OBGYN From Bergen ‘Predator In White Coat’: Feds Seek Sex Abuse Victims Of OBGYN From Bergen
‘Predator In White Coat’: Feds Seek Sex Abuse Victims Of Obgyn From Bergen It seemed a plea deal with state prosecutors in New York would keep former gynecologist Robert Hadden of Englewood out of prison after he was accused of sexually abusing patients. Then the feds came knocking. FBI agents arrested Hadden, 62, at his home on Wednesday and brought him to U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where a grand jury indictment charges him with sexually abusing dozens of female patients, including minors, over nearly 20 years. Federal authorities are asking other alleged victims to come forward (see below). Hadden victimized patients “under the guise of conducting purpor…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
North Jersey Surgeon With Star-Studded Client List Faces Lawsuit For Botched Nose Job North Jersey Surgeon With Star-Studded Client List Faces Lawsuit For Botched Nose Job
North Jersey Surgeon With Star-Studded Client List Faces Lawsuit For Botched Nose Job A triple board certified North Jersey and NYC plastic surgeon who has a star-studded list of clients is facing a lawsuit for a botched a nose job intended to correct a breathing issue -- then forging documents, the New York Post reports. Arevik Khurdayan, who has a deviated septum, saw Dr. Ramtin Kassir to correct the breathing issues that resulted from the problem, The Post says. However, during the initial consultation, the Manhattan office convinced the 34-year-old patient to undergo a cosmetic nose job as well with a dual procedure called a septorhinoplasty, promising that the operatio…

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by Valerie Musson