$500,000.00 Verdict Against Nurse and Oncological Practice for Chemotherapy Extravasation
Bridgeton, NJ – November 6, 2003
Yesterday, November 5, 2003, a Cumberland County Jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff Rose DeRosa for $500,000.00 in a chemotherapy extravasation medical malpractice case. Mrs. DeRosa, represented by Patrick T. D’Arcy and Andrew J. D’Arcy, of the D’Arcy Law Firm, in Galloway township, New Jersey, alleged in the Complaint that Nurse Nellie D’Alessandro and Southern Oncology and Hemotalogy Associates, located in Vineland, New Jersey, were negligent in the administration of chemotherapy. As a result of this negligence, it was alleged that the currently 77 year old plaintiff experienced eleven weeks of pain and suffering and the removal of her left breast by way of a simple mastectomy. The defendants were represented by Timothy M. Crammer, of Crammer and Bishop, located in Absecon, New Jersey.
A main issue in the case was whether or not it is necessary to verify blood return prior to administering chemotherapy through an implanted port. In proving the standard of care for adminstering chemotherapy, plaintiff called as experts Dr. Jill Lacy, a board certified oncologist and associate professor at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, as well as Thelma Meyers-Navarro, R.N., a certified oncological nurse and the director of the Nursing Oncology Unit at Beth Israel Hospital, New York, New York. These experts testified that it is absolutely necessary to verify blood return prior to administering a chemotherapy agent and that the defendant’s failure to obtain same was a deviation from the standard of care.
Defendants’ expert, Dr. Eric Munoz, an assemblyman and trauma surgeon at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey, denied that blood return was required under the applicable standard of care. However, during Patrick D’Arcy’s cross-examination of Dr. Munoz, it was clear that Dr. Munoz was not a board certified oncologist nor was he an oncological nurse. The credibility of Dr. Munoz’s opinion in this case was undoubtedly placed at issue. Notably, Dr. Munoz, as an assemblyman, was a primary sponsor of a proposed piece of legislation that has received great media attention, namely N.J. Legislative Bill No. 3170, which specifically addresses among other things the issue of requiring certification for expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases. Quite surprisingly, Dr. Munoz testified that he could not recall whether or not his proposed legislation required medical certification of expert witnesses in certain medical malpractice cases. This aspect of Dr. Munoz’s testimony, among others, was a focus of Mr. D’Arcy in his closing argument to the Jury when referring to their need to evaluate the credibility of the expert witnesses presented by both sides.
After a week and a half trial, the Cumberland County Jury found the defendants negligent and awarded the plaintiff $500,000.00 in damages.
Yesterday, November 5, 2003, a Cumberland County Jury returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff Rose DeRosa for $500,000.00 in a chemotherapy extravasation medical malpractice case. Mrs. DeRosa, represented by Patrick T. D’Arcy and Andrew J. D’Arcy, of the D’Arcy Law Firm, in Galloway township, New Jersey, alleged in the Complaint that Nurse Nellie D’Alessandro and Southern Oncology and Hemotalogy Associates, located in Vineland, New Jersey, were negligent in the administration of chemotherapy. As a result of this negligence, it was alleged that the currently 77 year old plaintiff experienced eleven weeks of pain and suffering and the removal of her left breast by way of a simple mastectomy. The defendants were represented by Timothy M. Crammer, of Crammer and Bishop, located in Absecon, New Jersey.
A main issue in the case was whether or not it is necessary to verify blood return prior to administering chemotherapy through an implanted port. In proving the standard of care for adminstering chemotherapy, plaintiff called as experts Dr. Jill Lacy, a board certified oncologist and associate professor at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, as well as Thelma Meyers-Navarro, R.N., a certified oncological nurse and the director of the Nursing Oncology Unit at Beth Israel Hospital, New York, New York. These experts testified that it is absolutely necessary to verify blood return prior to administering a chemotherapy agent and that the defendant’s failure to obtain same was a deviation from the standard of care.
Defendants’ expert, Dr. Eric Munoz, an assemblyman and trauma surgeon at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey, denied that blood return was required under the applicable standard of care. However, during Patrick D’Arcy’s cross-examination of Dr. Munoz, it was clear that Dr. Munoz was not a board certified oncologist nor was he an oncological nurse. The credibility of Dr. Munoz’s opinion in this case was undoubtedly placed at issue. Notably, Dr. Munoz, as an assemblyman, was a primary sponsor of a proposed piece of legislation that has received great media attention, namely N.J. Legislative Bill No. 3170, which specifically addresses among other things the issue of requiring certification for expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases. Quite surprisingly, Dr. Munoz testified that he could not recall whether or not his proposed legislation required medical certification of expert witnesses in certain medical malpractice cases. This aspect of Dr. Munoz’s testimony, among others, was a focus of Mr. D’Arcy in his closing argument to the Jury when referring to their need to evaluate the credibility of the expert witnesses presented by both sides.
After a week and a half trial, the Cumberland County Jury found the defendants negligent and awarded the plaintiff $500,000.00 in damages.