Justia Lawyer Rating for Robert D. Kreisman

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Steven Rosen experienced severe disability after surgery for a herniated disk in the lower part of his neck. Several years later, he consulted a neurosurgeon, Dr. Harshpal Singh, who subsequently operated on Rosen’s cervical spine.

During the procedure, Dr. Singh allegedly noted that Rosen’s left C8 nerve root was not visible and had been transected or cut transversely.

Despite the second surgery, Rosen’s condition worsened. He is now 74 years old and needs ongoing pain management. Rosen and his wife filed suit against Dr. Singh and the New Jersey Brain & Spine Center, alleging medical negligence. The Rosen family asserted that the surgery was performed improperly, and that the physician caused serious injury to Rosen’s C8 nerve root.
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Ms. Doe underwent a tummy tuck performed by Dr. Roe, a plastic surgeon. During the procedure, Dr. Roe allegedly found a lipoma that he attempted to remove by way of liposuction. The attempt was unsuccessful, but Dr. Roe finished the procedure.

Ms. Doe suffered severe pain over the next week despite her use of narcotics. She later went to a hospital where exploratory surgery revealed two large bowel perforations. Ms. Doe required 11 additional surgeries.

Ms. Doe sued Dr. Roe, alleging that he had negligently perforated her bowel during the tummy tuck and had mistaken her bowel for a lipoma. A lipoma is a slow-growing fatty lump that most often is situated between the skin and underlying muscle layer. Lipomas are slow-growing and usually harmless.
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Jason Berkoben, 48, went to the FasterCare Kittanning Urgent Care, complaining of shortness of breath. A doctor there noted that Berkoben was obese, wheezing and unable to speak in complete sentences.

The examining doctor ordered a chest x-ray and later diagnosed Berkoben as having COPD and emphysema.

Berkoben was discharged following instructions to see his primary care physician. Unfortunately, less than two hours later, he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest. He was survived by his father.
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Sheryl Jones, 60, had a history of emphysema and smoking. When she experienced shortness of breath, she went to a hospital where physician Dr. Lawrence Segal ordered a computed tomography angiography (CTA) of the chest with contrast.

The results of the CTA showed a lesion on her right upper lung. Dr. Segal diagnosed blood pressure issues and prescribed medication. Two days later, Jones returned to the hospital after her cardiologist told her that a clot was found on the CTA. Jones was told that the scans had been misinterpreted as showing a clot.

About three years later, Jones was treated for metastatic lung cancer. She died the following month and was survived by her daughter.
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LaTresia Austin, 39, was a breast cancer survivor. She elected to undergo a one-hour reconstructive breast surgery at a San Diego hospital. When her breathing tube was removed postoperatively, her vocal cord spasmed. Unfortunately, the tube was reinserted into her esophagus, and allegedly it took more than ten minutes for doctors to realize she was experiencing oxygen deprivation.

When the error was discovered, Austin was transferred to the ICU where she died of a hypoxic brain injury. Her death was caused by the breathing tube mishap and the ten-minute delay in reacting to the emergency: oxygen deprivation to the brain. She was survived by her husband and child.

Austin’s estate sued the Regents of the University of California, alleging improper monitoring and choosing not to timely check the breathing tube, which was the cause of her brain injury and finally her wrongful death.
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Two years after undergoing a double mastectomy, Debbie Jackson went to Heartland Regional Medical Center for breast reconstruction surgery. During the 11-hour surgery, she was left in the same position. When she awoke, she noticed that she had lost feeling in and use of her right leg. She was later diagnosed as having a compression injury to the sciatic nerve in her right buttock.

Jackson now has pain and permanent foot drops. She is in constant risk of falling.

She sued Heartland Regional Medical Center, alleging negligent training and supervision. She asserted that the defendant’s nurses were unaware of the standards of care established by the association of peri Operative Registered Nurses applicable to extended surgeries, which require nurses to use extra padding on a patient’s buttocks to protect against compression injury to the sciatic nerve.
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Elizabeth Tigani, 32, was admitted to Greenwich Hospital to deliver her first child. She was 40 weeks pregnant at the time. Since the second stage of labor lasted a long time, she requested a cesarean section but was allegedly told that a vaginal delivery was safe. However, early the next morning Tigani was taken to the operating suite for a cesarean section.

In that surgery, she suffered serious and permanent injuries to her uterus, vagina, bladder, among other problems, but the baby was born uninjured. Having experienced many complications in surgery, she is not able to have other children.

Tigani sued Westchester Medical Group, P.C., alleging that her injuries were due to the treating obstetrician’s delay in performing a cesarean section and surgical negligence. Tigani also claimed that the ob
stetrician chose not to engage in a shared decision-making process and allowed her to endure a prolonged second stage of labor.
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Doe, 65, suffered from uncontrolled hypertension, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. He had been smoking since the age of 22. At an examination, he complained of severe heartburn that increased with physical activity; however, a nurse practitioner allegedly did not recommend that he come into the ER. A month later, Doe allegedly died from a myocardial infarction, a heart attack.

Doe’s estate filed a lawsuit against an undisclosed defendant alleging failure to diagnose and treat heart blockage problems. The defense argued that Doe had a history of noncompliance and that no autopsy was done to confirm the cause of death.

The parties settled for $1.5 million.
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Idalia Corcoles, 39, underwent liposuction of her back, abdomen and flanks; the surgery was performed by plastic surgeon Dr. Ayoub Sayeg at the 63rd Medical & Surgical Center in Chicago, Ill.

A few hours after the procedures, she was rushed to a nearby hospital from the 63rd Medical & Surgical Center recovery room where a blue code was activated. Extensive blood in her abdomen was revealed after a test, which necessitated massive blood transfusions and surgery. Corcoles died the next day. She was survived by her husband and four children, ages 10 to 22.

Corcoles’ estate sued the surgical center, Dr. Sayeg and others, claiming failure to perform an adequate medical history, recognize and treat hypertension and bleeding, and timely transfer Corcoles to a hospital.
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Craig Beaubien was referred to a hematologist, Dr. Charu Trivedi, to determine the cause of an abnormal blood test showing a high hematocrit level. When the hematocrit value is high, the proportion of red blood cells in the blood is higher than normal. This can indicate dehydration, a disorder that causes the body to produce too many red blood cells, such as polycythemia vera, or lung or heart disease.

Dr. Trivedi allegedly determined that kidney cancer was one of the possible causes for the hematocrit result, but did not order any diagnostic testing to rule out the cancer.

Approximately seven months later, Beaubien developed headaches. He underwent imaging, which showed an 8.3 cm tumor in his kidney. The tumor was cancerous and had metastasized to the brain. As a result, Beaubien underwent radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and surgery. Despite this treatment, he died. He was survived by his wife.
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