SKETCHES OF COURT: Jury awards plaintiff $1.3M in medical malpractice trial
In this courtroom sketch, Hon. Ellen Spodek listens as Hayes Young (standing), trial counsel for the law firm Mark Basichas & Assocs., addresses the jury during opening remarks in the medical malpractice trial Sherman v. Westrich. Young is using a visual aid in describing one of the components of his client’s prosthetic hip. Court reporter Lisa Calvano records the proceedings.
At age 58, Bela Sherman’s osteoarthritis necessitated a total hip replacement in an attempt to relieve her chronic pain. Dr. Geoffrey Westrich performed the surgery in July 2010, inserting a modern prosthetic hip joint. Unfortunately, her pain was exacerbated following the procedure, and Sherman underwent revision surgery 14 months later with another orthopedic surgeon. Young alleged that Westrich performed an improper insertion of the prosthesis, specifically the Anatomic Dual Mobility cup component, during the initial surgery, and claimed that Sherman’s pain was due to his negligence.
Guy Lawrence (at right), of the law firm Bartlett, McDonough & Monaghan, represented Westrich. Lawrence attributed Sherman’s painful condition to ALVAL, or “aseptic lymphocyte dominated vasculitis-associated lesions,” caused by a hypersensitivity to metal-on-metal corrosion from her hip replacement components, two of which were recalled by the manufacturer in June 2012. Lawrence asserted that Westrich’s surgery did not depart from prevailing standards of care.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.