Summary Judgment Dismissal

HPM&B recently obtained summary judgment dismissal on behalf of a podiatrist and her professional corporation in Suffolk County Supreme Court. Plaintiff alleged that these defendants failed to timely diagnose and properly treat lower extremity blood clots, which allegedly resulted in partial amputation of two toes several months later. Plaintiff treated with the podiatric defendants after being discharged from the hospital, where no vascular issues were identified.  Plaintiff alleged that the podiatric defendants should have referred plaintiff back to the hospital. Defendants argued that the plaintiff’s clinical presentation was not emergent and that plaintiff had been referred to a vascular surgeon. Further, plaintiff did, in fact, return to the emergency room two days after seeing the podiatric defendant, where, surgery to remove the clots was not immediately performed. Defendants further argued that plaintiff’s expert, a vascular surgeon, was not qualified to render an opinion regarding the podiatric medicine standard of care. The Court agreed and granted summary judgment dismissal of all claims alleged against the defendants.