Morrissey v. Sobol

176 A.D.2d 1147, 575 N.Y.S.2d 960, 1991 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 13741
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided October 31, 1991·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

— Mercure, J.

Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 (initiated in this court pursuant to Education Law § 6510-a [4]) to review a determination of respondent which revoked petitioner’s license to practice medicine in New York.

Petitioner, a physician licensed to practice in this State, was charged by the State Board for Professional Medical Conduct (hereinafter BPMC) with two specifications of gross negligence and, based on the same facts, one specification of negligence on more than one occasion, two specifications of gross incompetence and one specification of incompetence on more than one occasion, in relation to his care of two different patients (hereinafter referred to as patients A and B).

The evidence adduced at a hearing conducted by a Hearing Committee of the BPMC reveals that petitioner performed breast augmentation surgery on patient A, a 34-year-old female, on July 17, 1987 in his office in the Town of Southampton, Suffolk County. The surgery was performed under local anesthesia, with patient A receiving a combination of demerol, versed and xylocaine. Shortly after the xylocaine was administered, patient A stopped breathing and suffered cardiac arrest. Patient A was transported to Southampton Hospital, where she died on July 29, 1987. Petitioner performed breast augmentation surgery on patient B, a 21-year-old female, in his office in the City of Yonkers, Westchester County, under general anesthesia on May 9, 1988. The anesthesia was administered by Michael Sherwood, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (hereinafter CRNA) provided to petitioner by Mobile Anesthesia Equipment Services, Inc. (hereinafter Mobile Anesthesia). Patient B suffered a laryngospasm during surgery and Sherwood could not adequately ventilate her. Patient B then suffered cardiac arrest, was resuscitated by Sherwood and petitioner but thereafter suffered a second cardiac arrest at approximately 9:00 a.m. Patient B was transferred to Physicians Hospital in Queens at approximately 3:00 p.m. and was thereafter transferred to Montefiore Hospital, where she died on May 12, 1988.

Following the hearing, the Regents Review Committee ultimately accepted the Hearing Committee’s findings of fact and concluded, with respect to patient A, that petitioner was negligent in failing to perform adequate preoperative tests, [1148] incompetent in administering an excessive dose of versed,* and grossly incompetent in administering an excessive dose of xylocaine. Regarding patient B, the Review Committee concluded that petitioner was (1) negligent in failing to perform an adequate preoperative laboratory evaluation, (2) grossly negligent in failing to determine whether Sherwood was a physician or a CRNA, (3) grossly negligent in failing to ensure that the patient was intubated before surgery, (4) grossly negligent in failing to require Sherwood to use a pulse oximeter, (5) negligent in failing to ensure that Sherwood used sufficiently potent inhalation agents, and (6) grossly negligent in failing to have the patient immediately transferred to a hospital. The Review Committee accepted the Commissioner of Health’s recommendation that petitioner’s license to practice medicine be revoked on each of the specifications upon which a finding of guilt was made. The Board of Regents accepted the report of the Review Committee, and respondent issued an order carrying out the Board’s determination. Petitioner then commenced this proceeding to challenge respondent’s determination.

Initially, we reject petitioner’s contention that there is insufficient evidence in the record to support respondent’s determination with respect to patient A. As we have often stated, our review is limited to whether respondent’s determination of petitioner’s guilt by a preponderance of the evidence is fully supported by substantial evidence in the record (Matter of Edelman v Sobol, 174 AD2d 896, 897, appeal dismissed 78 NY2d 1006; Matter of Carrera v Sobol, 163 AD2d 706, 708, affd 77 NY2d 931; Matter of Prokopiw v Commissioner of Educ., 149 AD2d 874, 875, appeal dismissed 75 NY2d 809). In our view, the testimony of BPMC’s medical experts provides the requisite substantial evidence here. Armand Simone, a board-certified general and plastic surgeon, testified that the failure to order and review blood tests and similar evaluations deviated from generally accepted medical standards. Further, both Simone and David Hammer, a board-certified anesthesiologist, testified that the dose of xylocaine administered here was excessive and both agreed that the facial twitching, clonic movements and bradycardia experienced by patient A were classic symptoms of xylocaine toxicity. Petitioner’s claim, that [1149] although he had prepared 500 milligrams of xylocaine for the procedure, he injected the patient with only 350 milligrams, raised a credibility question which was resolved against him (see, Matter of Rojas v Sobol, 167 AD2d 707, 709, lv denied 77 NY2d 806; Matter of Goomar v Ambach, 136 AD2d 774, 777, appeal dismissed 72 NY2d 908, lv denied 73 NY2d 701).

Turning to patient B, Simone’s testimony again provides substantial evidence supporting the charge that petitioner negligently failed to perform adequate preoperative tests and lab evaluations. We conclude that substantial evidence also supports the determination that petitioner was grossly negligent in failing to inquire as to Sherwood’s credentials and in failing to immediately transfer patient B to a hospital when she went into cardiac arrest. First, although petitioner contends that he had no obligation to inquire as to Sherwood’s credentials, both Hammer and Simone provided testimony to the contrary. The record demonstrates that this was the first time petitioner had used Mobile Anesthesia and its president, Mikhail Zalmanov, testified that petitioner did not specifically request a physician. Petitioner concedes that a CRNA cannot administer anesthesia except under the supervision of a physician and, had he known that Sherwood was a CRNA, he would have been ultimately responsible for Sherwood’s conduct and the anesthesia given patient B. It was the Board of Regents’ duty to determine what constituted gross negligence (see, Matter of Ross v Commissioner of Educ. of State of N. Y., 167 AD2d 569, 570), and we cannot say, in these circumstances, that the Board acted irrationally in finding that petitioner’s conduct was egregious (see, supra; see also, Matter of Yong-Myun Rho v Ambach, 74 NY2d 318, 322; Matter of Gandianco v Sobol, 171 AD2d 965, 967; Matter of Spero v Board of Regents, 158 AD2d 763, 764).

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Morrissey v. Sobol, 176 A.D.2d 1147, 575 N.Y.S.2d 960, 1991 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 13741 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1991).

176 A.D.2d 1147 (Morrissey v. Sobol) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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