A New York jury has returned a plaintiff's verdict against NYC Health + Hospitals in the wrongful death of a 23-year-old woman who died after a 12-hour delay in treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis at Woodhull Hospital. The verdict, reached after less than two hours of deliberation, carries implications beyond the individual case: it signals that hospitals will be held accountable for failing to meet basic standards of care, even in busy public emergency rooms that serve low-income and minority communities.
The lawsuit, litigated by Kevin Lee and Rikki Dascal of the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Firm, centered on the hospital's failure to act on lab results that showed signs of diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when a lack of insulin allows the blood to turn acidic. Although lab results available within hours of the woman's arrival showed signs consistent with pancreatitis, physicians treated only the pancreatitis and did not address the underlying diabetic ketoacidosis. During cross-examination, the treating physician conceded that the delay in starting insulin fell below an acceptable standard of care. When insulin was finally administered, it was the wrong type for her condition. The woman died two and a half weeks after she first arrived at the hospital.
Physician experts from Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins Medical School testified that the 12-hour treatment delay significantly reduced her chance of survival. "She did not receive the medication she needed. She did not receive the fluid that she needed. And we will contend the evidence will show that she lost a substantial chance at surviving," Lee told the jury in his opening statement. In closing arguments, Dascal urged jurors to hold the hospital to the same standard as any other New York City facility. "This trial is your opportunity to hold a hospital in your community to the same standard of care as any other hospital in New York City," Dascal said. "Regardless of which hospital our client walked into, she should have received the same level of care."
NYC Health + Hospitals argued at trial that a busy emergency room contributed to the delay, an argument the jury rejected. The verdict is significant because it rejects the notion that overcrowding excuses substandard care. Firm attorneys point to research showing that low-income and minority patients face longer emergency room wait times and lower quality care more often than other patients, and say the outcome of this case underscores the need for consistent treatment standards regardless of a hospital's location or patient population. The case adds to the firm's record in wrongful death litigation against public and private medical providers, and it serves as a warning to hospitals that delayed diagnoses and treatment failures will not be tolerated, particularly when they disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. The verdict affirms that all patients, regardless of which hospital they walk into, are entitled to the same standard of care.
