GURFEIN DOUGLAS, LLP WINS 2014 LITIGATOR AWARD

GURFEIN DOUGLAS LLP NAMED 2014 LITIGATOR AWARD WINNER™. HAVING BEEN CONFERRED THIS PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL AWARD, THE FIRM RANKS AMONG THE TOP 1% OF ALL LAWYERS FOR: MEDICAL MALPRACTICE, AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT, WRONGFUL DEATH, PREMISES LIABILITY, TOXIC & ENVIRO 
GURFEIN DOUGLAS, LLP WINS 2014 LITIGATOR AWARD

from: http://www.litigatorawards.com/

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON: AUG. 20, 2015 – Gurfein Douglas LLP, a trial law firm located in New York City, New York, was awarded the prestigious 2014 Litigator Award™ for extraordinary achievement within the field(s) of Medical Malpractice, Automobile Accident, Wrongful Death, Premises Liability, Toxic & Enviromental and Brain Injury Litigation.

Justly standing as the nations most coveted symbol of “Litigation Achievement”, this unrivaled annual honor recognizes trial lawyers {firms} who have attained extraordinary litigation achievement within one or more of 72 pre-defined “Practice Specialty” categories. Based strictly on “Verdict and/or Settlement” dollar achievement rather than peer popularity, the Litigator Awards™ are perhaps the most rigorous and openly judged trial law rating. Simply being nominated is to be set among the elite of the profession. Those awarded are generally considered among the finest trial lawyers in the nation.

FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD NOW ABOUT PERSONAL INJURY CASES


Definition – 
Personal injury is a collective term that covers a wide variety of wrongs and damages done to a person, and / or his or hers property, rights or reputation. If you have suffered loss, accident, injury or other misfortune due to other people’s negligence, malpractice, intentional error or someone else’s act or failure to act, you might be entitled to compensation and correction. Of course, no amount of money can truly compensate for your injuries and suffering, but a fair settlement can cover medical expenses, lost wages or damage from emotional distress.

In legal sense, the term personal injury is very comprehensive and covers anything from construction, vehicle, boat, train, bur and slip / trip / fall accidents to medical malpractice, defective drugs and medical devices, toxic exposure and work injuries.

Compensation – Compensation in personal injury cases can cover a variety of expenses occurred due to the negligent action of the defendant (person or legal entity against which a personal injury case has been brought up). These expenses include loss of wages, damage to your property, pain and suffering, disability medical costs (including the future ones), loss of the enjoyment in life, and disfigurement. If the injury results in death, than the settlement should cover funeral costs, loss of financial support, medical costs prior to death, and even loss of companionship.

Majority of personal injury cases are settled before trial – Statistical data has shown that about 95% of personal injury cases are settled prior to trial through negotiations or through a mediation process. A pre-trial settlement can substantially reduce costs that the client would have to cover during litigation.

Statutes of Limitation – This is one of the most crucial elements of any lawsuit. In terms of personal injury cases, the general statutes of limitation in the State of New York is three years since the date of the personal injury. There are exceptions to this rule. For example, if you are filing a notice of claim that involves NY City authorities, than the statute of limitation is only 90 days. For wrongful death cases, this deadline is two years since the date of death while in the case of medical malpractice, the statue of limitations stands at two years and six months.

Collect evidence / Find witnesses – In order to increase the chances of winning your personal injury case and obtaining the best possible settlement, you will need to clearly establish and prove that the defendant has harmed you. Write down in detail the sequence of events that lead to the injury while taking all circumstances and details into account (time of the day, weather, presence of witnesses etc.). Photograph the scene of the accident and your injuries from different angles. Get medical treatment for your injury as soon as possible. Medical treatment should be provided only by a traditional MP (avoid chiropractors, homeopaths, alternative medical practitioners). Ask for copies of all relevant medical files. Look for witnesses who were nearby at the time of your accident. Write down their full name, address and telephone number and ask them if they would be willing to testify at a later stage.

ZOFRAN CAN CAUSE BIRTH DEFECTS

ZOFRAN AND BIRTH DEFECTS 

ZOFRAN is a prescription drug sold by GlaxoSmithKline for control of vomiting and nausea.  It is intended to be used by people who have had chemotherapy and radiation that makes them sick.  When a drug has a specific purpose, it is listed in the company’s information sheet under “INDICATIONS”.  Zofran is “indicated” for nausea in cancer patients.

GlaxoSmithKline has also been promoting Zofran to doctors for pregnant women who are experiencing morning sickness.  Morning sickness is NOT listed in the “indications” part of GlanxoSmithKline’s information sheet, so its use for pregnant women is called “OFF LABEL”.  GlaxoSmithKline’s sales people actively promote this “OFF LABEL” use to doctors.

There are studies which show that pregnant women who take Zofran are twice as likely to have children with birth defects such as cleft palates and heart defects.  If you took Zoran during pregnancy and your child was born with a birth defect, call us, fill in our response form or click on the chat window to speak to an operator now; we may be able to help.

Jury Verdict of $4,783,703 for Misdiagnosis

Manhattan Jury Awards $4,873,703 to 52 year old landscaper, Robert Wyble, and his wife, Zaida Wyble, against Dr. Dale Lange, Chief of Neurology at Hospital for Special Surgery for wrong diagnosis of Myasthenia Gravis. Partner, Richard Gurfein tried the Wybles’ case in Supreme Court, New York County and took the verdict on March 18, 2014.  Reported in the Daily News and WCBS-TV.

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Mr. Wyble was referred to Dr. Lange in May of 2005 for complaints of falling down without reason and being able to get right back up as though nothing had happened.  Dr. Lange ordered blood tests and a CT scan of Mr. Wyble’s chest, but all the tests were negative.  Nevertheless, Dr. Lange told Mr. Wyble he had Myasthenia Gravis.  This disease of neuromuscular transmission occurs when the body’s own immune system attacks the receptor cells of the muscle and prevents the muscle from getting the signal from the brain to contract or relax.

Dr. Lange started treatment for Myasthenia Gravis in July of 2005 with medication.  By the fall of 2006 he recommended a thymectomy.  The Thymus gland is involved in the body’s immune system.  In the first dozen years of life it seeds cells throughout the body that will produce antibodies to fight off infection throughout life.  After that time it starts to atrophy and ceases to function.  In Myasthenia Gravis, it is believed the Thymus gland reactivates and starts producing these antibodies that attack the receptor cells of the muscles.  Another way the Thymus gland is involved in Myasthenia Gravis is when the Thymus gland develops a tumor.  Testing on Mr. Wyble never found any antibodies or any tumor of thymus gland.

The Thymectomy was done in January 2007.  The surgeon sawed through the breast bone and removed the remnants of the thymus as well as fat.  Then wired the breast bone back together in the same way they do for open heart surgery.  Following the thymectomy Mr. Wyble’s medications were increased.  He was also put on Prednisone and in September, 2007 he was started on biweekly plasma exchanges.  This went on for another two years until Dr. Lange left Mt. Sinai Hospital without telling his patient. Mr. Wyble then found another neurologist, Dr. Betty Mintz

Dr. Betty Mintz agreed to take on Mr. Wyble as a patient.  From the very first visit Dr. Mintz was skeptical about the diagnosis and by November, 2009 when Mr. Wyble suffered an infection of the port for the plasma exchanges, Dr. Mintz was convinced he never had Myasthenia Gravis.  She discontinued all the medication and stopped the plasma exchanges.  She diagnosed Mr. Wyble with Cataplexy which explained the falling down.  She prescribed the correct medicine for that condition and he no longer falls.

The trial lasted three weeks and Dr. Lange continued to maintain he was right in his diagnosis.  The jury disagreed.  They awarded Mr. Wyble $3.5 million dollars for past and future pain and suffering plus the hospital bill of $373,708.  They awarded Mrs. Wyble, who, after six and a half years of being Mr. Wyble’s nurse and not his wife, filed for divorce, $1,000,000 for her loss of services and consortium claim.  The total verdict was $4,873,703.

Richard Gurfein speaks with Q 104.3’s Maria Milito

Top New York personal injury lawyer Richard Gurfein speaks with Q 104.3’s Maria Milito about the rights of accident victims in New York State.  Click on links below to listen to the interviews.  Mr. Gurfein can be heard live with Maria Milito every Monday at 12:00 noon.

Jury Awards $6.78 Million in Pedestrian Accident

On Thursday evening March 3, 2011, a New York County jury reached a verdict in the case of Ernest Lewis, an infant, by his mother, Brenda Lewis against the New York City Transit Authority, MABSTOA and Courtney Thompson, Index no. 101833/07. The four man, two woman jury awarded the 13 year old (now 18) plaintiff $6,783,202.90 for being run over by the BX19 bus at 145th Street and Convent Avenue on November 19, 2005.

After a church service at the First Calvary Baptist Church on 148th Street, Mrs. Lewis and her son Ernest were on their way home. They were trying to catch the BX19 bus at the 145th Street at Convent Ave. bus stop. As Ernest was running alongside the bus he began hitting the side of the bus, which was not moving, to alert the driver of their presence. As he got in front of the middle wheels of this 60-foot long articulating bus, he tripped and his legs fell under the bus. An eyewitness, Alphonza Elliott, testified at the trial, that it was just about the time the child fell that the driver started the bus. The middle tire rode over his legs. Police officers called to the scene noted a tire tread impression in his leg

The driver claimed that he was aware the child was running for the bus, but didn’t see him when he was near the middle of the bus and pulled into the intersection. He glanced at his right side mirror and saw a shadow on the ground and stopped the bus in the middle of the intersection to investigate. He found Ernest behind the middle tire. There was a lot of blood. He called the TA from the phone on his bus, while the eye witness called 911 on his cell phone.

The trial, which started on February 22, 2011 before Justice Geoffrey Wright in Supreme Court, New York County, ended this evening with the jury verdict. The jury awarded Ernest $2,500,000.00 for past pain and suffering, $283,202.09 for past medical expenses and $4,000,000 over 10 years for future pain and suffering.

Ernest sustained a major degloving injury to his right lower leg tearing off skin, muscle and tendons and exposing the bones, fracture of the distal fibula, avulsion of the distal tibia and a fracture of the left calcaneus. Ernest was taken to Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where skilled trauma specialists treated him for 3 1/2 weeks, saving his leg. He was taken to the OR on 8 separate occasions for placement of pins and an external fixator to hold the fractured fibula in place, placement of a rod in the fibula (permanent) to align the bone fragments, a syndesmotic screw to realign the spacing between the tibia and fibula and an 8 1/2 hour surgery to harvest muscle from his abdomen to transplant into his leg and to harvest skin from hi s thigh to graft over the transplanted muscle. He also had a cast on his left foot. After 3 1/ 2 weeks at Children’s hospital he was transferred to St. Mary’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Ossining, New York on December 15, 2005. He remained there until February 24, 2006 making periodic visits to his doctors at Presbyterian. The cast on the left leg was removed on January 5, 2006 and the external fixator was removed on February 14, 2006.

He continued to receive nursing care and physical therapy at home until May, 2006 when he finally returned to his 8th grade class at St. Dominic’s School. Ernest is presently in his freshman year at Berkley College in Manhattan expecting to earn a degree in business in four years. Ernest and Mrs. Lewis were represented by Richard A. Gurfein, Esq. of Gurfein Douglas LLP in Manhattan. The Transit Authority and the other defendants were represented by Lynne Troy Henderson, Esq. of Wallace Gossett’s office.

Comment: The Bus Operator knew the child was alongside his bus. He should never have moved the bus until the child was out of the danger zone.

Gurfein Captains NY’s Ryder Cup Team to Victory

Richard Gurfein, as Captain of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association’s Ryder Cup team, led his golfers to their first victory over New Jersey in four years.

Each year members of the New York Trial Lawyers and New Jersey Trial Lawyers (New Jersey Association for Justice) compete in a Ryder Cup style golf tournament.  It is a friendly competition between colleagues who come together for an enjoyable day on the golf course.

This friendly competition has a loving cup as its prize.  The team from New Jersey has won or held the cup for the first three years of the tournament.  But the fourth year was the charm.  On August 19, 2010 at the Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo, NY,  Gurfein’s New York squad took the cup away from New Jersey for the first time with a score of 13 1/2 to 10 1/2.  The cup will reside at the NYSTLA headquarters for the next twelve months to commemorate the win.

Richard Gurfein is past president of the NYS Trial Lawyers

Almost 40 years ago, Richard Gurfein made a career jump from teacher to lawyer, but he still hopes he can teach people a few things. Gurfein became president of theNew York State Trial Lawyers Associationin 1995 with hopes of improving the public’s image of lawyers.

But he also had hoped lawyers would do some things themselves to better their image, such as volunteering to help community organizations. “In part, what lawyers do is protect an important part of American democracy – our system of civil justice. We deal with people’s rights and how to protect them,” Gurfein said. “I think that it’s important to understand when advertisements and news stories talk about unusual lawsuits and verdicts, [they] are the exceptions that prove the rule.”

NYSTLA has a web site on the Internet for the public to learn about the civil justice system. The Web site address ishttp://www.nystla.org. “I think lawyers should be active members of the community,” he says. “We owe a debt to the community.”

BIOGRAPHY

Originally from Queens, Gurfein has lived with his wife, Erica, and their children on Long Island for 30 years. Gurfein got his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from New York University and taught math at the Jane Addams Vocation High School for Girls in the South Bronx for four years. At the same time he went to Brooklyn Law School at night, and received a Juris Doctor degree in 1971. His law practice focuses on people seriouslyinjured through negligence, accidents, such as on construction sites and in automobiles, medical malpractice and defective products.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Gurfein is Board Certified by theNational Board of Trial Advocacyin Civil Trial Advocacy, he has chaired numerous committees of theNew York State Trial Lawyers Associationand theNassau County Bar Association.

INTERESTS

Gurfein enjoys astronomy, astrophotography, amateur radio, photography, videography, golf and sailing.

11 Year Old Accident Victim Turns to Life of Crime

A State Supreme Court jury accepted the contention that injuries suffered in a roadway accident led an 11-year-old Bronx boy into a life of crime and yesterday awarded him $950,000 in an injury suit.

“Perhaps this kid would never have gone bad,” said attorney Richard Gurfein.

In the 10 years since the 1973 accident, Kevin Alleyne, now 21, amassed a record of seven convictions including armed robbery. In fact, he is currently being held on Rikers Island on another armed robbery charge. Alleyne was allowed to go to court yesterday, accompanied by two armed guards, to hear the jury announce the huge award against Con Ed and two contractors, Interboro Surface Co. And Abbott Breaking Corp.

Elated, he turned to his lawyer and said, “Now at least, I can get the therapy they’ve been saying I need.” According to his lawyers, the physical injuries and scar Alleyne suffered as a child were only part of the damage. He was also scarred psychologically, they said.

“Perhaps this kid would never have gone bad,” said attorney Richard Gurfein.

-David Seifman – NEW YORK POST

NY Daily News – EXCLUSIVE: Landscaper awarded $4M in medical misdiagnosis case

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An upstate man has been awarded almost $4 million after a top neurologist had him undergo four years of agonizing treatments for a condition he didn’t have, the Daily News has learned.

Robert Wyble, 42, of Pine Island, Orange County, says he had his chest sawed open to remove his thymus gland, underwent biweekly blood treatments and was put on medication that caused him to gain 80 pounds and get hypertension — all because he’d been misdiagnosed as having a potentially fatal condition, myasthenia gravis.

Read more: NY Daily News

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