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NEW YORK, NY, June 30, 2009
/24-7PressRelease/ -- Despite warnings in 36 previous cases in which 31 people died during a three year period, the City of New York continued to use unapproved and expired batteries in the defibrillators used on EMS ambulances. As a result, when the ambulance crews tried to use their defibrillators to shock patients' hearts back into a normal heartbeat, the defibrillators failed because the batteries were dead. On August 12, 2000, Toni Ann Joline, a 40 year-old mother, became the 32nd fatality in a three year period as a result of the City's failure to heed repeated warnings and instructions from the manufacturer of the defibrillator, the Laerdal Heartstart 3000.
In a lawsuit the City fought for six years, the husband and daughter of Mrs. Joline had their day in court when the case went to trial during the summer of 2007 in Queens County Supreme Court. The Brooklyn based attorneys,
Reibman & Weiner, for the Joline family discovered during the lawsuit that the City received written warnings from the defibrillator manufacturer on 36 separate occasions to only use the manufacturer's batteries and to never use batteries that were more than 2 years old. Despite the previous warnings, when a Laerdal technician examined the defibrillator used to treat Mrs. Joline he found that the one of the batteries was over six years old and one was over 10 years old.
The incident occurred when Mrs. Joline and her mother were stuck in traffic on the Van Wyck Expressway. Just as an ambulance pulled up along side of the Joline vehicle, Mrs. Joline slumped over. The paramedics attended to her immediately. They determined that Mrs. Joline's heart could be shocked back into a normal rhythm and applied the defibrillator. The first battery failed to deliver a shock. The backup battery was used and that, too, failed. Mrs. Joline was then transported to Jamaica Hospital where her heart was started. The forty minutes that elapsed between the time when Mrs. Joline's heart stopped and when it was restarted at the hospital deprived her brain of oxygen and she never fully regained consciousness. She died eight months later, leaving her husband Richard and her eight year old daughter Jessica.
The City tried to have the case thrown out and lost. The City appealed that decision, further delaying the trial, but it lost the appeal as well. The appellate decision is reported at, Joline v The City of New York, 32 A.D.3d 492 (2d Dep't 2006) LEXIS 10315. The Supreme Court (trial level) decision is reported at, Joline v The City of New York, 2 Misc. 3d 10006A (Sup. Ct., Queens County 2004) LEXIS 237.
The City attempted to defend the case by claiming it had no responsibility to a patient who is unconscious, an argument that it had lost twice.
Marc Reibman, the Joline family attorney, points out "the City was really trying to apply different standards of care to different types of patients. For example, anyone who is considered legally incompetent, like an unconscious person, would fall under the new rule the City is trying to create. The same rule would include children, mentally disabled people, Alzheimer's patients, and intoxicated persons. That was, and should be, recognized as a preposterous argument."
Regarding the trial,
Mr. Reibman notes the "evidence of incompetence on the City's part was overwhelming. They never had any acceptable explanation for why the City failed to supply its ambulances with proper working batteries. You can buy them from a catalog or online." And, he continued, "as any qualified and honest doctor will tell you, every minute is critical when it comes to reviving someone's heart and getting oxygen to their brain. In this case, the paramedics were on the scene immediately and started treatment. All their efforts were wasted because the City gave them bad batteries. Had the batteries worked, Toni Ann would be alive and well today."
During the six years the City defended the case, it never offer any settlement. The City called a witness at trial who testified that the City tried to buy more batteries during the time in question but was unable to do so.
Mr. Reibman counters, "we believe the City continued to follow the same practice after Toni Ann's death and we don't know what it does today. That's even more perplexing."
Mr. Joline states, "It's hard to believe the City couldn't find the right batteries to use on their ambulances. My daughter is growing up without her mother because of that. This case was brought to get justice for Toni Ann, my daughter, and all the other families who lost loved ones because of expired batteries and to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future."
The jury heard all the evidence and the lawyers on both sides delivered their closing arguments at the conclusion of the month long trial. Before the jury could make its final determination the City offered a substantial sum of money in final settlement of the case and asked that the amount remain confidential.
Reibman & Weiner has offices located at 26 Court Street, Brooklyn, New York. The firm is conveniently located in downtown Brooklyn, accessible by many subway lines to the Court Street/Borough Hall station or to Jay Street.
Reibman & Weiner handle lawsuits in all New York City courts, including Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond County, Staten Island. Reibman & Weiner also handle cases in Westchester, Orange, Nassau and other New York counties and has an active Federal practice in both the Southern District of New York in Manhattan and the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.
Reibman & Weiner, Attorneys
26 Court Street, Suite 105
Brooklyn, New York 11242
T: 718-522-1743
F: 718-643-9297
Marc Reibman, Esq
Steven Weiner, Esq
http://www.brooklynlawyersfirm.com---
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