Messeroux v. Maimonides Med. Ctr.

• Decision Date: 04 March 2020
• Docket Number: Index No. 11515/13,2017–03211
• Citation: 181 A.D.3d 583,121 N.Y.S.3d 136
• Parties: Rose MESSEROUX, etc., et al., Appellants, v. MAIMONIDES MEDICAL CENTER, et al., Respondents.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

181 A.D.3d 583
121 N.Y.S.3d 136

Rose MESSEROUX, etc., et al., Appellants,
v.
MAIMONIDES MEDICAL CENTER, et al., Respondents.

2017–03211
Index No. 11515/13

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Argued - October 31, 2019
March 4, 2020

121 N.Y.S.3d 137

Marjory Cajoux, Brooklyn, NY, for appellants.

Aaronson Rappaport Feinstein & Deutsch, LLP, New York, N.Y. (Steven C. Mandell of counsel), for respondents.

REINALDO E. RIVERA, J.P., LEONARD B. AUSTIN, ROBERT J. MILLER, COLLEEN D. DUFFY, JJ.

121 N.Y.S.3d 138

DECISION & ORDER

181 A.D.3d 583

In an action, inter alia, to recover damages for medical malpractice, etc., the plaintiffs appeal from an order of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Ellen M. Spodek, J.), dated January 31, 2017. The order, insofar as appealed from, granted that branch of the defendants' motion which was for summary judgment dismissing so much of the complaint as alleged medical malpractice.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

On October 20, 2009, Joseph Messeroux (hereinafter the decedent), a 51–year–old man who had high blood pressure since he was a teenager, presented to the emergency room's triage unit at the defendant Maimonides Medical Center (hereinafter MMC), complaining of a mild cough with right-sided chest pain, general malaise, and a feverish feeling with chills. Six months before seeking treatment at MMC, the decedent had discontinued taking his hypertension medications. After being admitted to MMC's main emergency room, the decedent was seen by the defendant Amish Aghera, who, after performing various tests and a physical exam, arrived at a differential diagnosis that included chest pain and an abnormal electrocardiogram.

The decedent was then admitted to the MMC telemetry unit, where he was seen by the defendant Malcolm Rose and the defendant Nisarg Changawala, a first-year resident whom Rose was supervising at the time. The decedent underwent further testing and treatment by Rose and Changawala for what was described as a hypertensive crisis, acute congestive heart failure, and hypertensive nephrosclerosis. By October 23, 2009, Rose noted, among other things, that the decedent's hypertensive crisis had resolved. Consequently, Rose ordered that the decedent was ready to be discharged. Upon doing so, Rose gave the decedent various follow-up directions and prescribed him several medications to address his hypertension.

181 A.D.3d 584

Approximately three hours after his initial discharge from MMC on October 23, 2009, the decedent returned to the MMC emergency room by ambulance. The ambulance call report stated that the decedent had taken the aforementioned medications, after which he immediately felt dizzy and lightheaded. However, by the time he returned to MMC, the decedent's symptoms had dissipated, and he did not have chest pain. During his second presentment to MMC, various tests were performed, and the decedent was seen by the defendant Corey Weiner. After reviewing the test results and examining the decedent, Weiner determined that the decedent's symptoms were likely an allergic reaction to two of the medications prescribed to address his hypertension. Since the reaction had dissipated and the decedent did not have any current complaints, Weiner ordered that the decedent could be discharged with instructions to stop taking the hypertension medications and to...