Khenkina v. Maimonides Med. Ctr.

2024 NY Slip Op 31409(U)
CourtNew York Supreme Court, Kings County
DecidedApril 19, 2024
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2024 NY Slip Op 31409(U) (Khenkina v. Maimonides Med. Ctr.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court, Kings County primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Khenkina v. Maimonides Med. Ctr., 2024 NY Slip Op 31409(U) (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2024).

Opinion

Khenkina v Maimonides Med. Ctr. 2024 NY Slip Op 31409(U) April 19, 2024 Supreme Court, Kings County Docket Number: Index No. 523893/17 Judge: Genine D. Edwards Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. [FILED: KINGS COUNTY CLERK 04/22/2024 12:31 P~ INDEX NO. 523893/2017 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 109 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 04/22/2024

At an IAS Term, Part MMESP6 of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, held in and for the County of Kings, at the Courthouse, at 3 60 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York, on the 19th day of April 2024. PRES ENT:

HON. GENINE D. EDWARDS, Justice. -------------------------------------------------------------x INESSA KHENKINA, as Administratrix of the Estate of MIKHAIL LIVSHITZ, and INESSA KHENKINA, Individually, Plaintiffs, DECISION AND ORDER -against- Index No. 523893/17 MAIMONIDES MEDICAL CENTER and Mot. Seq. No. 4 HA YM SOLOMON HOME FOR THE AGED, LLC, d/b/a HA YM SOLOMON HOME FOR NURSING & REHABILITATION, Defendants. -------------------------------------------------------------x The following e-filed papers read herein: NYSCEF Doc Nos.:

Notice of Motion, Affirmations, and Exhibits ............................... 78-101 Affirmations in Opposition, and Exhibits .................................... 104-107 Reply Affirmation ................................................................ 108

In this action to recover damages for, inter alia, nursing-home malpractice, Haym

Solomon Home for the Aged, LLC, doing business as Haym Solomon Home for Nursing

& Rehabilitation ("defendant"), renewed, as permitted by the Court's order, dated May

22, 2023, its prior motion for summary judgment dismissing all claims of Inessa

Khenkina, individually and as the administratrix of the Estate of her late father, Mikhail

Livshitz ( collectively, "plaintiff'), as against it. Plaintiff opposed the motion.

Codefendant Maimonides Medical Center ("MMC") did not respond to the motion.

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Background

From April 29, 2013 until his death on August 27. 2016, plaintiffs decedent,

Mikhail Livshits (the --patient"), an octogenarian, continuously resided at defendant's

nursing home (the ''facility"), with intermittent hospitalizations at the non-movant MMC

and at the non-party New York Community Hospital c·NYCH'"). During his admission to

defendant's facility, his medical history was significant for dementia, pulmonary disease,

congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation. hypertension. coronary artery disease, and a

pennanent pacemaker. He required assistance with bed mobility. transfers, dressing,

eating, toilet use, walking, and personal hygiene.

During his residence in defendant's facility. the patient suffered several medical

emergencies for which he was transferred to MMC (and, where appropriate, to NYCH)

for treatment. During his July 2015 hospitalization at MMC for hyponatremia and

infection, the patient fell, sustaining an acute (which subsequently progressed to a

subacute or chronic) subdural hematoma. 1 Three months later, on October 1, 2015, he

was re-hospitalized at MMC for a new ··acute on subacute" subdural hematoma which

was in addition to his pre-existing subacute (or chronic) subdural hcmatoma. The newly

discovered subdural hematoma was described as being of a "mixed attenuation" or mixed

density, thus suggesting repeated episodes of acute bleeding that could have been brought

on by even the slightest of trauma. Defendant's and MM C's respective medical records

1 "Subdural hematomas that persist beyond the 21-day period are considered chronic subdural hematomas, which is one of the most common traumatic conditions in the elderly population." Defendant's expert affirmation.

· I 2

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for the patient did not reflect any then-recent traumatic event at either facility, with the

aforementioned July 2015 episode at MMC representing the patient's then-most recent

fall.

Upon readmission to defendant's facility on October 5, 2015, the patient was

noted to have been then suffering from three bedsores: ( 1) a Stage I sacral ulcer ( 5 cm x 8

cm); (2) a Stage I right heel ulcer (3 cm x 3 cm); and (3) unstageable left heel ulcer (3 cm

x l cm). Wound-care treatment was promptly implemented, with some success.

Six months later, on February 15, 2016, while still residing at defendant's facility,

the patient was found naked (other than wearing a diaper) in a sitting position on his

roommate's floor mat. 2 He exhibited a laceration (2 cm x 3 cm) on his right occiput (back

of the head) with minimal bleeding. He was alert but confused. After a prompt transfer to

MMC for a radiology study, which revealed no acute findings, he was returned to

defendant's facility the same day.

In response to the patient's February 15, 2016 fall at defendant's facility, its

personnel intensified the patient's fall-protection measures. Nonetheless, approximately

1-½ months later, on April 3, 2016. the patient was once again found lying on his back on

the floor mat. Immediately before his fall that day. he had removed his bed alarm and

once again got out of bed unassisted. An on-site physical examination revealed that he

had suffered no injuries from his fall. Defendant's earlier fall-protection measures for the

patient were enhanced, including a replacement of his bed alann. Two days later, on

2 The patient shared a room with another resident during his stay at defendant's facility.

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April 5, 2016, the patient was caught trying to remove his bed alarm in yet another

attempt to get out of bed unassisted. 3

Four months later, on August 8, 2016, the patient was hospitalized at NYCH for

altered mental state, mutism. and inability to sit straight in his wheelchair. At NYCH, he

was diagnosed with hyponatremia and rhabdomyolysis (a breakdown of muscle tissue

with ensuing kidney damage). A head CT scan, performed at NYCH, revealed that the

patient had: (I) a bilateral iso-dense subdural hematoma likely to be subacute in the

bilateral parietal lobe superior lesions, which were superimposed on severe chronic

central and peripheral atrophy; and (2) chronic infarcts. After the patient failed a swallow

study, he was equipped with a PEG tube and was discharged from NYCH to defendant's

facility on August 19, 2016.

Upon his readmission to defendant's facility on August 19, 2016, the patient was

discovered to have been suffering from gangrene in his left leg. The patient was

immediately returned to NYCH where, on physical examination, he exhibited an acute

left leg discoloration from below his left knee to his left toes. An ultrasound study of the

patient's left leg revealed a complete obstruction that was proximal to his left popliteal

artery.

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