Complaint Review: NEW YORK STATE OPMC - TROY New York

 THE CORRUPT PEOPLE AT OPMC LET MURDERERS DR STEIN, FLANAGAN, NUTINI, RAGNARRSON get away with MURDER.

Stein's shift ended at approximately 7:30 p.m. on April 6, 2007. The weekend on-call attending, Dr. Bryce, was to

take over Mr. Deane's care from Dr. Stein the next morning. The attending physician on-call is expected to be

physically present at Mt. Sinai on Saturday and Sunday. Notwithstanding, it appears that Dr. Bryce failed to report to

work on the morning of Saturday, April 7, 2007. It was later learned during discovery that Dr. Bryce's name was

omitted from the list containing the e-mail addresses of physicians receiving the on-call schedule, and, thus, Dr. Bryce

was unaware that he was the on-call attending that weekend. According to the deposition of Dr. Steven Flanagan, who

was the Vice-Chairman of the Department of Rehabilitation at Mt. Sinai from January of 2000 to March 2008, it was

his responsibility to establish schedules for coverage of the physicians in the rehabilitation department. Dr. Flanagan

testified that it is expected that two attending physicians be on-call each weekend, and that both on-call attendings are

expected to be present at the hospital on Saturday and Sunday. It appears that the other attending on-call that

weekend was Dr. Herrera, who was unaware that Dr. Bryce had failed to show up for work, and apparently unaware

that half the patients in the rehabilitation facility were not under the care of an attending physician. Dr. Flanagan also

testified that it is his expectation that every patient be seen by an attending physician at least once a day, and that the

attending physicians make a note of such examination. Dr. Flanagan testified that the physicians in his department are

aware of these expectations. With respect to the on-call schedule for attending physicians setting forth their

responsibility for weekends, Dr. Flanagan testified that other than sending out the e-mail to the physicians, nothing

more is done to make sure that the physicians know when they are required to be at the hospital.

Nurse Awo Sam was the nurse who admitted Mr. Deane on the evening of April 6, 2007. As the admitting nurse, Nurse

Sam did an assessment of Mr. Deane at approximately 7:00 p.m., and, at the time of her deposition, she recalled that

Mr. Deane was tired, had swelling in his neck, was anxious, had an elevated fever, a high pulse rate and was in pain.

During her assessment of Mr. Deane, he was having respiratory difficulties and receiving supplemental oxygen. He also

had a cough that was productive of yellow secretions, which, according to Nurse Sam's testimony, could suggest

pneumonia or respiratory infection. According to Nurse Sam, during her assessment, Mr. Deane advised her that he

was having difficulty swallowing. Nurse Sam testified at some point during her shift, which ended at 7:00 a.m. on the

morning of April 6, 2007, she alerted the on-call resident that Mr. Deane had abnormal vital signs, such as an

abnormally high fever, high pulse, and high blood pressure.

Dr. Rebecca Brown was the resident on call from 7:00 p.m. on April 6, 2007, until 7:00 a.m. on April 7, 2007. She was

a fourth year resident in rehabilitation medicine. During this shift, Dr. Brown was responsible for covering all of the

patients on all four floors of the rehabilitation facility, which included spinal chord injured patients, such as Mr. Deane, as

well as brain injured patients. She was the only resident physician assigned to the entire rehabilitation facility for that

day, where there are approximately 100 patients. These same hundred patients would be cared for by eight or nine

attending physicians during the week, in addition to whatever residents, nurses and patient care associates were

working in the facility. It is important to note that immediately prior to beginning her shift at the rehabilitation clinic on

the evening of April 7, 2007, Dr. Brown worked a 12 hour shift in the outpatient clinic at Mt. Sinai.

Dr. Brown first encountered Mr. Deane when he was examined upon admission by Dr. Stein. At that time, Dr. Brown

became aware of Mr. Deane's difficulty swallowing, and was also aware of his respiratory difficulties. At approximately

12:30 a.m. on April 7, 2007, Dr. Brown observed that Mr. Deane had increased difficulty breathing, so she doubled the

amount of oxygen he was receiving. At that time, Mr. Deane also had an elevated fever, hoarse breath, and was

requesting to sit up to have his chest suctioned to clear out secretions. Additionally, Mr. Deane was also tachycardic,

i.e., his heart rate exceeded the normal range. Dr. Brown ordered a stat complete blood count, chem profile and chest

x-ray. It appears from the records, and the deposition testimony of Dr. Brown, that she did not see Mr. Deane after

approximately 12:30 a.m. on April 7, 2007, and she never notif