Future Doctors Learn Valuable Lessons from Noted Medical Malpractice Attorney

Attorney Robert Higgins addresses Harvard Medical School students

Medical schools train future physicians to diagnose, treat, and heal, but one important lesson in medicine doesn't come from a textbook or a clinical rotation. It comes from understanding what happens when things go wrong.

Medical malpractice attorney Robert Higgins speaks to students at Harvard Medical School

That's the premise behind a unique educational opportunity at Harvard Medical School, where fourth-year students heard directly from Attorney Robert M. Higgins, a partner at Lubin & Meyer and one of New England's most accomplished medical malpractice trial lawyers. At the invitation of Harvard Medical School faculty, Attorney Higgins brought decades of courtroom and litigation experience into the classroom, offering future physicians a candid look at how medical decisions, documentation, and communication can carry profound legal — and human — consequences.

Learning from patient harms

Drawing from a career spent representing patients and families harmed by preventable medical error, Higgins addressed topics at the heart of patient safety: informed consent, accountability, the dangers of delayed diagnosis, and the role of systems-based practices in protecting patients. His perspective is rare and valuable, having spent years examining exactly where care breaks down and why.

The focus was not on liability as a threat but on patient care, and how understanding legal and ethical dimensions of medicine can make doctors better, safer, and more trusted by the patients they serve.

Why this matters for patient safety

"As medical malpractice lawyers, we see the issues that impact care," said Higgins. "Breakdowns in communication. Failure to follow established protocols. Delays in diagnosis. We see recurring patterns behind preventable patient harm. By showing medical students how to recognize these vulnerabilities early, they are better equipped to offer safer care as doctors."

Lubin & Meyer represents individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.



View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com

Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

"Medical Gaslighting" Is #1 Patient Safety Concern

When patient complaints are not taken seriously

A recent report from ECRI lists the Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2025 and identifies the #1 patient safety concern as "Risks of Dismissing Patient, Family, and Caregiver Concerns." 

When healthcare providers don't take patient complaints seriously, patients say it feels to them like "medical gaslighting"

What is medical gaslighting, and how prevalent is it? Lubin & Meyer addresses this issue in its Patient Safety Resource Center article:

#1 Patient Safety Concern: Dismissing Patient Complaints — also known as "Medical Gaslighting"

What is medical gaslighting?

The American Journal of Medicine defines medical gaslighting as “an act that invalidates a patient's genuine clinical concern without proper medical evaluation, because of physician ignorance, implicit bias, or medical paternalism." 

Lubin & Meyer founding partner, Andrew C. Meyer Jr. explains, “Physicians, PAs, and nurses have a duty to listen — and when they don’t, the consequences can be devastating for patients and their families. Medical providers must recognize that listening isn’t optional — it’s the foundation of providing safe, responsible care. Dismissing symptoms without proper evaluation or testing isn’t just careless — it can be life-threatening.”

Dismissing patient concerns can lead to delayed and missed diagnoses, and tends to occur more often among populations such as women and people of color, as well as patients who are older, heavier, disabled or LGBTQ.

Said Meyer, "Many of the cases we have successfully resolved for our clients involve situations where patient complaints were downplayed, dismissed, or ignored—leading to delayed or missed diagnoses that resulted in serious injury or even death."

For more information on medical gaslighting, see the full article here, which includes several examples of cases involving patient complaints not being taken seriously, as well as tips on how to spot medical gaslighting.

View more topics in our Patient Safety Resource Center:

• 29 Mistakes That Should Never Happen In A Hospital, But Do
• Lifesaving Tips for Safer Childbirth
• Raising Awareness of the Number 1 Killer in Hospitals
• And more...

Lubin & Meyer represents individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Leaders in the Law: Four Attorneys at Lubin & Meyer Recognized for Achieving Top Verdicts and Settlements

Leaders in the Law 2024 - Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

Four attorneys at Lubin & Meyer were recently honored as Leaders in the Law 2024 at a prestigious event, hosted by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, that celebrates lawyers of the year, in-house leaders and the top five verdicts and top five settlements of the previous year.

Lubin & Meyer attorneys achieved an unprecedented feat by securing four of the top ten verdicts and settlements in Massachusetts during 2023. 

• Andrew C. Meyer, Jr.
• Robert M. Higgins
• Adam R. Satin
• Lynn I. Hu

$20 Million Medical Malpractice Verdict for Loss of Leg

Third largest verdict of 2023 - view case summary

Attorney Robert M. Higgins achieved the third largest verdict in 2023 with a $20 million dollar result in Luppold v. Lowell General Hospital. The patient’s blood clot was twice misdiagnosed as sciatica by emergency department staff, and led to the amputation of his leg. With interest, the total amount came to $28.8 million.

Higgins presented an emergency medicine expert and an emergency room nurse expert who both testified that the defendants were negligent in failing to properly work up the patient’s foot and ankle abnormalities, which presented twice as cool and purple. A surgical expert testified that the patient’s leg could have been saved with the proper treatment.

See related news coverage and the lawyer’s trial report: Blood clot misdiagnosed as sciatica leads to amputation of leg. 

$20 Million Wrongful Death Verdict for Aortic Aneurysm

Fourth largest verdict of 2023 - view case summary

Attorney Higgins also secured the fourth largest verdict of 2023 with another $20 million verdict in the civil action Estate of Joseph Brown v. Kenyon, M.D. et al. The plaintiff a 43-year-old disabled man died from an undiagnosed and untreated aortic aneurysm and dissection. Higgins claimed the defendants were negligent in failing to order CT and perform surgery.

Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reported that demonstrative aids proved pivotal in achieving a verdict. Said Higgins, “You can tell the jury about an aortic aneurysm or dissection, but it is far more powerful to actually show them.”

With interest, the verdict totaled $28.8 million.

See lawyer’s trial report and related news coverage: Failure to diagnose, treat aortic aneurysm and dissection.

$7.56 Million Verdict for Pulmonary Embolism Death

Fifth largest verdict of 2024 - view case summary

Attorneys Adam R. Satin and Lynn I. Hu recorded the fifth largest verdict of 2023 in McDonald v. Ruberg, when the jury agreed that a woman’s death could have been avoided had the doctor considered a pulmonary embolism. Said Satin, “In a complex medical case like this, we tried to emphasize the things that jurors know — before they ever set foot in the jury box — aren’t right. In this case, a woman in the hospital under the defendant’s care decided she was safe to go home and sent her home with a plan to follow up with another doctor in about a month. I said to the jury, ‘She didn’t make it a month, she didn’t make it a week, she didn’t make it a day — she didn’t even make it one hour. Forty-five minutes after she left the hospital she collapsed and died.’ ”

For more information on this case, see lawyer’s trial report: Failure to diagnosed pulmonary embolism. 

$15 Million Settlement for Baby’s Sleep Study Death

Fifth largest settlement of 2023 - View case summary

Attorneys Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and Robert Higgins achieved a record-setting settlement for a medical malpractice case, the Estate of Jackson Kekula v. Boston Children’s Hospital, which was the fifth largest of all settlements in Massachusetts in 2023.

The child was undergoing a sleep study test when abnormalities in his vital signs were attributed to faulty equipment. For 30 minutes, technologists attended to the machinery rather than the child, who suffered irreversible brain damage. The tragic case settled quickly before a lawsuit was filed. Said Meyer, “You can resolve a claim with a velvet glove and you don’t always need the iron fist.”

“We were able to work cooperatively with ... all the parties involved. It was incredibly important to not only get a positive result for our clients to get closure in this case, but also to have the hospital change its policies and procedures to make sure that nobody else gets harmed.”

For more information on this case see: Boston Children’s Hospital Agrees to Record-setting $15 Million Settlement for Death of Infant undergoing Sleep Study 

Lubin & Meyer represents individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Lubin & Meyer Dominates the Courtroom with 5 Jury Verdicts in 5 Months

Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Law Firm Sets Pace in Verdicts for 2023  

Long known for its courtroom successes representing plaintiffs in medical malpractice and personal injury cases, Lubin & Meyer is setting a high bar in 2023 with a record five multimillion dollar verdicts in as many months, garnering headlines in local media for these achievements.

“Year after year, we remain the go-to law firm for medical malpractice and personal injury cases due to our continued success securing record-setting results that compensate victims, protect the public and inspire change,” said Andrew C. Meyer, Jr., firm founder. Meyer was recently named one of the “Most Influential Bostonians” by Boston magazine in its May 2023 issue.

Lubin & Meyer medical malpractice trial attorneys

$4.95 million verdict - Gadde vs. Gordon, M.D., et al

In February, Attorney Robert M. Higgins and Andrew Miller secured a $4.95 million verdict with interest in Middlesex Superior Court in a case against a Lahey doctor for failure to properly test for cancer. 

$28.8 million verdict - Luppold vs. Flores, N.P, et al

In March, Attorney Higgins prevailed in a medical malpractice trial claiming negligence by Lowell General Hospital emergency department for twice misdiagnosing a man's blood clot as sciatica, resulting in the amputation of his left leg. The Middlesex Superior Court jury agreed awarding 20 million dollars for the loss of his leg. ($28.8 million with interest.)

The Boston Globe broke the news of this trial result:

Jury awards $20 million to a man who lost a leg after hospital missed blood clot/

$28.8 million verdict - Brown vs. Browell, M.D., et al

In April, Attorney Higgins convinced an Essex Superior Court jury that Salem Hospital emergency room personnel were negligent in their failure to diagnose and treat an aortic aneurysm and dissection resulting in the death of a 43-year-old man. After eight days of trial, the jury deliberated for 3 hours before returning a verdict of $20 million to his two daughters for the loss of their father ($28.8 million with interest.)

Local media reported on this case:

Boston.com - Jury awards $29 million to the family of man, 43, who died from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm at Salem Hospital 

The Salem News - Family awarded $29 million in a lawsuit against Salem Hospital

$10 million verdict - Lucifora vs. Kroll, M.D., et al

Also in April, Attorney William J. Thompson obtained a jury verdict against a Whidden Hospital ER physician for failure to advise follow-up on a CT scan finding which resulted in death due to lung cancer. The jury found the defendant was 'grossly negligent' in care rendered. 

$4.65 million verdict - Bunker vs. Dhillon, M.D., et al

In May, Attorney Adam R. Satin was successful in Bristol County Superior Court in a 2-week trial where the jury deliberated for 5 hours before returning the verdict in favor of the family of a man who died due to the failure to diagnose and treat a stroke at Sturdy Memorial Hospital. 

This case was reported on by The Sun Chronicle: Late Attleboro resident's family awarded multi-million dollar judgment in his death 

Lubin & Meyer is recognized annually by the Best Lawyers in America® in areas of medical malpractice and personal injury plaintiffs law, recently featured on the cover of Best Lawyers New England as the  "hardest-working, most successful medical malpractice and personal injury law firm in New England."

Questions about Medical Malpractice?

If you believe you (or a loved one) were injured due to improper medical care, please contact our law firm to request a free case evaluation. 

Lubin & Meyer attorneys and staff nurses are available to review your case. No fee. No obligation.

We represent individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Massachusetts Jury Awards $29 Million to Family of Man Who Died of Undiagnosed Aortic Aneurysm

April 14, 2023 — Newburyport, MA — Attorney Robert M. Higgins of well-known Boston medical malpractice law firm, Lubin & Meyer, today obtained a $29 million verdict including interest against a North Shore Medical Center Salem Hospital emergency room physician and hospitalist.
 
The case involved the death of a 43-year-old disabled man who passed away from an undiagnosed and untreated aortic aneurysm and dissection.

The verdict was handed down by an Essex Superior Court jury in Newburyport, Massachusetts.  The case was tried over two weeks before Judge Lang. The jury deliberated for just 3 hours before returning the record-setting verdict.  The award was for two adult daughters of the decedent, ages 18 and 24. Higgins said, “The tragedy of this case is that Mr. Brown would be alive had the two defendants simply ordered the test that he clearly needed.”

The verdict came less than 4 weeks after Attorney Higgins' $28.8 million verdict in a trial in a case where a man's blood clot was twice misdiagnosed as sciatica by Lowell Genereral Hospital emergency department staff resulting in leg amputation. That verdict was covered by The Boston Globe.

Questions about Medical Malpractice?

If you believe you or a loved one was injured due to improper medical care, please contact our law firm to request a free case evaluation. 

Lubin & Meyer attorneys and staff nurses are available to review your case. No fee. No obligation.

We represent individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Are State Medical Licensing Boards Protecting Doctors at the Expense of Patient Safety?

> Lack of Transparency in Medical Malpractice Cases Is Enabling Dangerous Doctors 

The explosive report by the Boston Globe Spotlight Team — A Celebrated Surgeon, A Trail of Secrets and Death — exposed a system of cover up and denial at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, NH, that allowed a highly promoted surgeon to rack up a record 21 medical malpractice settlements over two decades. 

Dr. Yvon Baribeau was one of Catholic Medical Center’s busiest, best paid surgeons. When he retired, hospital officials described him in glowing terms.

A new @GlobeSpotlight investigation has found the reality could not have been further from his carefully crafted image.

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) September 8, 2022

The Globe Spotlight investigation details the efforts over the years of fellow physicians and nurses who bravely raised concerns about Dr. Yvon Baribeau, a highly touted cardiac surgeon and the face of CMC Manchester's flagship New England Heart Institute, to no avail. 

Read the astounding reporting here:

    Part 1: A celebrated surgeon, a trail of secrets and death

    Part 2: A crisis of conscience, with lives on the line

    Chronology: What the public didn't know about Dr. Yvon Baribeau

    Secrecy pervades medical malpractice settlements

The Issue with Confidential Medical Malpractice Settlements

How can a doctor with so many medical malpractice cases fly under the radar for so many years? The legal practice in New Hampshire is to settle medical malpractice claims with confidentiality clauses where defendants admit no guilt and parties sign non-disclosure agreements to not speak about the case or the settlement amount. This practice is against public policy and allows dangerous doctors (those with multiple medical malpractice cases filed against them) to continue to operate without detection.

The Globe's reporting cites a study that finds "9 out of 10 medical malpractice settlements require alleged victims to sign nondisclosure agreements... Some law firms however, refuse to accept settlements muzzling victims."

The paper quotes Lubin & Meyer partner William J. Thompson:

"Hiding settlements with binding confidentiality provisions protects only the medical provider at fault. That does a tremendous disservice to the patient and the public."

Further, the Spotlight investigation described New Hampshire's Board of Medicine as among the country’s least transparent. It's physician directory does not publish information about medical malpractice claims and had no information on Dr. Baribeau's cases, while his Massachusetts medical board profile lists 20 malpractice settlements. 

Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. who has been outspoken for years on the ineffectiveness of state medical boards to properly self regulate when it comes monitoring negligence and substandard practice, spoke on Radio Boston in reaction to the Baribeau story, and whether the same thing could happen in Massachusetts.

While the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine does list medical malpractice settlements, unlike New Hampshire's board, it is still inadequate, according to Meyer. 

"The cases that end up on the board's website are only cases that are settled, and that's after four or five years of litigation. The only thing it reports is that there was a case settled and whether it was above average or below settlement value. So if somebody is practicing substandard medicine, the public is not aware of the fact, and has no place to go to find out what the record of their doctor is."

According to Meyer, what the Massachusetts Medical Board does do well is to deal with doctors "who are doing illegal things — over-prescribing drugs, violating boundaries with patients, sexually and otherwise — because they're the quick and dirty kind of cases it can deal with." 

"Where the board falls short is effectively monitoring whether or not the physicians it oversees are practicing substandard medicine — when it comes to protecting patients, it doesn't do a very good job."

"Even when it's known within a hospital who the bad players are, it isn't known to the public or the patients. What we're looking at is how are the doctors policing themselves? Is it adequate? Or are they protecting each other? And that's what we find more than anything, is that they're protecting each other, and they've sort of lost their way in what probably brought them into medicine in the beginning, which was to protect the patient and help the patient."

Meyer believes that these boards need more patient representation and to shift the focus to protecting patients not doctors.

See related information on medical boards:

Andrew Meyer Discusses Failures of Medical Boards in Response to Dr. Yvon Baribeau Report

WBUR, Radio Boston

Andrew Meyer Featured in Boston Magazine Exposé, The Secret Truth About Boston Doctors

Andrew Meyer Discusses the Topic of Physicians Who Are Repeat Offenders of Medical Malpractice

NECN TV / NBC10 Boston

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Cauda Equina Syndrome: Dangerous Spinal Condition Results in Permanent Injuries When Patient Complaints Are Not Taken Seriously

Recent medical malpractice lawsuit results in $2.5 million settlement in Massachusetts 

Medical malpractice attorney Robert M. Higgins recently settled a medical malpractice case involving a woman who suffered permanent injuries from cauda equina syndrome. Despite her symptoms including severe back pain, numbness, and bladder incontinence, two different doctors failed to order an MRI of her spine or refer her to a specialist.

Attorney Higgins who has represented individuals in similar lawsuits, said that, "Unfortunately, failing to diagnose the dangerous spinal condition known as cauda equina syndrome is more common than it should be. It happens when health care providers do not take patient symptoms and complaints as seriously as they should, and misdiagnose their condition as common back pain."

What is cauda equina syndrome?

Medical imaging of a spine showing the spinal condition of caudal equina syndrome.

Cauda equina syndrome is a serious medical emergency involving extreme pressure and swelling of the nerves at the end of the spinal cord. If patients with cauda equina syndrome do not get appropriate treatment, debilitating adverse results can include:

• difficulty walking
• permanent paralysis
• impaired bladder and/or bowel control
• other neurological and physical problems.

"Doctors and members of the healthcare team must accurately and timely diagnose this emergent condition before the nerves become permanently damaged," said Higgins. In this case, the patient's physiatrist dismissed her complaints as lumbar radiculopathy without requesting a consultation or imaging study and scheduled her for steroid injections. A second emergency room doctor also discounted her worrisome symptoms providing her with pain medicine and diagnosing her with sciatica and sending her home. Finally, after a second emergency room visit by ambulance, a new ER physician immediately ordered imaging and made the diagnosis of cauda equina syndrome and referred her to neurosurgery for emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on her nerves.

Read the full trial report here: Failure to Diagnose and Treat Cauda Equina Syndrome.

More Cauda Equina Syndrome Medical Malpractice Settlements

Lubin & Meyer has extensive experience successfully pursuing claims involving cauda equina syndrome, including but not limited to:

• $2 Million Settlement: Delay in Diagnosis of Cauda Equina Syndrome Results in Chronic Urinary Retention and Weakness
• $1 Million Settlement: Hospitalist and Neurosurgeon Failure To Diagnose Cauda Equina
• $1 Million Settlement: Delay of Spinal Surgery Causes Permanent Neurological Injuries Due to Cauda Equina
• $1 Million Settlement: Back Pain, Radiating to Legs Is Attributed to Diabetes, Not Cauda Equina

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com

Questions about Medical Malpractice?

If you believe you or a loved one was injured due to improper medical care, please contact our law firm to request a free case evaluation. 

Lubin & Meyer attorneys and staff nurses are available to review your case. No fee. No obligation.

We represent individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Record-setting $14 Million Medical Malpractice Settlement in Laboratory Error Case in Massachusetts

Lab Error Results in Advanced Cancer at Diagnosis

Attorneys Andrew C. Meyer, Jr., William J. Thompson, and Maria L. Mazur achieved a record setting laboratory error settlement in a case that resulted in a patient's advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis. 

The case involved a lab result that was reported as normal, but was not. The plaintiff was not notified of the error, which went undiscovered for a number of years until the plaintiff was diagnosed with advanced cancer.

The case, which was resolved in just over a year, involved aggressive discovery as to how the lab error occurred, and settled for $14 million at mediation.

Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice Law

Questions about an injury or death due to medical malpractice? Contact our medical malpractice lawyers for a free case review in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island. (617) 720-4447.

Medical Malpractice Attorney Confronts Nursing Home Negligence

Lubin & Meyer's Robert M. Higgins was featured in the recent Best Lawyers: The Injury & Malpractice Issue, in an article on litigating claims of nursing home abuse and neglect. The article, When Neglect Turns Fatal, discusses the challenges of patients who are immobile or suffering from dementia, limits on damage awards, and proposals for meaningful change.

The article, by Justin Smulison, highlights a recent nursing home settlement Higgins obtained on behalf of the family of a nursing home patient in Massachusetts who was strangulated when he became entangled between the bed and the bed rails. Higgins achieved a $2 million settlement in the wrongful death case. Details of the settlement are available at the link below.

---

Nursing Home Death Lawsuit: $2 Million Settlement

Improper bed rails at nursing home results in death of 84-year-old man from strangulation

---

Quoted in the magazine, Higgins said, "The facility had already violated numerous regulations regarding [its] use of bed rails. They were warned about the existing danger and simply did nothing to address the issue. They put people into beds with ill-fitting side rails, creating very dangerous situations for the patients." 

The article reports that state officials had found that 173 of the 176 beds in the nursing home had improper bed rails.

"This is not a case you see every week," said Higgins, "but poor healthcare for the elderly, unfortunately, happens more than it should. Our elderly population is extremely vulnerable. It is critical that we expose and correct problems in the care they receive, making condition safer and more reliable for the next family that puts a loved on into a nursing home."

Five attorneys at Lubin & Meyer were listed in the publication's directory as having received the Best Lawyers® designation in Massachusetts for medical malpractice law and personal injury litigation.

Questions about Medical Malpractice?

If you believe a loved one was not provided the proper care nursing home care, please contact our law firm to request a free case evaluation. 

Lubin & Meyer attorneys and staff nurses are available to review your case. No fee. No obligation.

We represent individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

New Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines: 45 Is The New 50

New Screening Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer

The American Cancer Society and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in May of this year updated the guidelines for colon cancer screenings recommending that all men and women (with average risk of colon cancer) begin screening at age 45 (instead of 50), using tests such as:

• Colonoscopy
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy
• CT colonography
• Stool test
• As well as other colon cancer tests.

According to the American Cancer Society, colon cancer, or colorectal cancer, is the third most frequently diagnosed cancer in the U.S. and the second leading cause of cancer death

Source: American Cancer Society

The rates of the incidence of colon cancer and death from colon cancer have declined in recent years due to increased use of colon cancer screenings to detect and remove precancerous polyps. That's the good news. 

The bad news: While the overall incidence of the disease is down, the rates of colon cancer in younger populations is increasing. Colorectal cancer is predicted to become the top leading cause of cancer death in people aged 20 to 49 by the year 2030, according to reporting by Good Morning America.

Colorectal Cancer and Black Americans

Black Americans are at an even greater risk for colon cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, and reported in STAT News,

"Black men are 24% more likely to develop the disease and 47% more likely to die from it than white men. Black women are 19% more likely than their white counterparts to develop it and have a 34% higher rate of dying from it."

Colon Cancer Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

When a physician fails to screen for colon cancer based on symptoms, or fails to screen for colon cancer based on recommended guidelines, and there is a delay in the diagnosis of colon cancer, the patient may have a medical malpractice claim. Investigating the circumstances surrounding a delay in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer should be conducted by attorneys experienced in colon cancer cases. 

Some our firm's recent medical malpractice settlements related to colo-rectal cancer lawsuits include:

• Rectal Cancer Diagnosis Delay: $1.25 Million Settlement
• Delay in Diagnosis and Treatment of Neuro-endocrine Colon Cancer: $850,000 Settlement
• Delay in Diagnosis of Colon Cancer Leading To Death: $1 Million Settlement

Questions?

If you believe you or a loved one was not provided the proper care and/or cancer screening related to a colon cancer diagnosis, please contact our law firm to request a free case evaluation. 

Our attorneys and staff nurses are available to review your case. No fee. No obligation.

Learn more on our Colon Cancer Information Page.

We represent individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Patient Dumping: Lubin & Meyer Files Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Massachusetts

Report from Disability Law Center Finds Abuse and Neglect in Death of Woman Discharged from Hospital and Left on Boston Streets 

Lubin & Meyer medical malpractice attorney Robert M. Higgins has filed a lawsuit in Worcester Superior Court seeking damages related to the death of CaSonya King, a mental health patient who died in 2018 shortly after she was improperly discharged from the hospital where she was being treated. Named in the complaint are High Point Hospital, CVS, the attending physician and a social worker at the hospital. 

In an exposé by Shira Schoenberg, for CommonWealth Magazine, Attorney Higgins, who represents CaSonya's mother Angela King in the civil action, said,

“They essentially decided they didn’t want to have her anymore, and they decided to dump her at a shelter. She had mental health issues, she needed help. She didn’t need to be dumped on the streets near the Pine Street Inn to fend for herself.” 

— Robert Higgins, Medical Malpractice Attorney

 

Mental health patient died in 2018 after discharge to Boston streets - CommonWealth Magazine https://t.co/T0QN06gkrE

— Shira Schoenberg (@shiraschoenberg) June 8, 2021

A report released on June 8, 2021 by the Disability Law Center (DLC),  the federally mandated protection and advocacy agency for Massachusetts, criticizes the Department of Mental Health (DMH), which licensed High Point Hospital, for its failure to get answers to critical questions about the incident:

• Why was CaSonya King discharged in a deeply disoriented state? 
• Why was she discharged to the street and against her will without adequate supports? 
• Why couldn’t the hospital wait until a placement with adequate supports could be arranged, especially since CaSonya King did not wish to be discharged to a shelter or to the street? 
• Why was she brought from Middleborough to Boston, 39 miles away, a community where she had no meaningful supports? 
• Where exactly was CaSonya King left and why did she never make it inside the homeless shelter? 

In announcing the report, DLC stated:

The report, “Out of Time: The Tragic Death of CaSonya King and the Practice of Patient Dumping” is available on the DLC website. It contains a detailed analysis of hospital medical records, DMH investigative records, and legal records, along with photographs, tables and additional graphic material, and information gathered from interviews and fact investigation. The report also describes CaSonya’s death against the backdrop of so-called “patient dumping” incidents across the country. Following its investigation, undertaken as the designated Protection and Advocacy (“P&A”) system for the Commonwealth, DLC finds that the actions of High Point Hospital, in discharging CaSonya King without a meaningful and effective discharge plan, constituted neglect and a dangerous practice that contributed to CaSonya King’s tragic death. 

 

Questions about medical malpractice? 

Lubin & Meyer can evaluate your case at no cost, with no obligation. Please contact us at (617) 720-4447. Or click the button below to fill out a form and we will contact you.

Representing individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Lubin & Meyer Achieves 32 Verdicts and Settlements of $1M or More Despite Pandemic

In 2020, Lubin & Meyer PC again stood alone as the demonstrated leader in medical malpractice and catastrophic personal injury law in New England recording more verdicts and settlements of $1 million or more than any other firm in the region. As much of the world was brought to a halt by the Coronavirus pandemic, Lubin & Meyer maintained its place as the leader — seamlessly and skillfully moving cases through the courts, continuing to engage new clients, and recording 32 verdicts and settlements of $1 million or more in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Featured among them was the $3.15 million verdict, Antonio v. Medlock: This medical malpractice lawsuit claimed a neurosurgeon botched the screw placement during spine surgery that resulted in new injuries and subsequent surgery for his patient. The case was highlighted in the Boston Magazine article, The Secret Truth About Boston Doctors, and was the topic of an interview with Attorney Andrew Meyer on NECN. The defendant neurosurgeon served as a board member of the Board of Registration in Medicine and the Massachusetts Medical Society. 

Notable settlements include:

$7 million personal injury settlement
Construction site accident causes upper body fractures

$4.5 million birth injury settlement
Baby suffers brain damage during prolonged labor with signs of fetal distress

$4.5 million cancer diagnosis delay settlement  

Failure to follow up on abnormal PSA result leads to prostate cancer death

$4 million maternal death settlement
Mother dies after delivery of baby from failure to monitor bleeding and repeat labs in order to diagnose and treat HELLP syndrome

$3.5 million wrongful death settlement
Physician assistant and supervising physician fail to recognize patient’s risk of sudden cardiac arrest and to refer patient to cardiologist or ER, results in death

To see the full listing of all 32 verdicts and settlements with links to each of the trial reports, click on: Largest Verdicts and Settlements of 2020.

Questions about medical malpractice? 

Lubin & Meyer can evaluate your case at no cost, with no obligation. Please contact us at (617) 720-4447. Or click the button below to fill out a form and we will contact you.

Our medical malpractice and personal injury attorneys represent individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

The Leader in Medical Malpractice Law — By Any Measure

Lubin & Meyer, Boston's perennial powerhouse in medical malpractice law and catastrophic personal injury litigation, is again on pace to lead the Commonwealth in results on behalf of injured clients. In just the first 10 months of 2019, Lubin & Meyer achieved over $150 million on behalf of its clients in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

The firm's strength lies in its demonstrated record of consistently obtaining more multi-million-dollar verdicts and settlements in the areas of medical malpractice and catastrophic personal injury law than any other law firm in the region. 

Lubin & Meyer has been awarded two Tier One "Best Law Firms" rankings for the Boston metro area in both medical malpractice law and personal injury litigation by Best Lawyers® / U.S. News & World Report in the 2020 edition.

Notable Highlights of 2019

Wrongful death settlement = $12,000,000.00

Radiology error verdict = $11,500,000.00

Post-surgical infection verdict = $10,700,000.00

Product liability settlement = $8,900,000.00

Birth injury settlement = $7,500,000.00

Surgical error settlement = $5,100,000.00

Surgical error settlement = $5,000,000.00

Post-surgical infection settlement = $4,000,000.00

Wrongful death verdict = $3,750,000.00

Neurological birth injury settlement = $3,500,000.00

To view of search hundreds of additional case results and trial reports, visit the firm's firm's website at: Verdicts and Settlements Case Archive

Questions about medical malpractice?

Lubin & Meyer can evaluate your case at no cost, with no obligation. Please contact us at (617) 720-4447. Or click the button below to fill out a form and we will contact you.

Representing individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Boston Medical Malpractice Lawyer Andrew Meyer Speaks Out About Massachusetts Medical Board

As Boston's top medical malpractice lawyer, Andrew C. Meyer Jr. has been outspoken about the Massachusetts medical system's shortcomings that put patients at risk. Most recently he was featured in the Boston Magazine exposé, The Secret Truth About Boston Doctors, in which he called out the Massachusetts Medical Board, charged with the duty of disciplining doctors for bad behavior and practicing bad medicine. As a follow up to that article, Meyer was interviewed by Sue O'Connell on NBC10 Boston / NECN.

Boston medical malpractice lawyer Andrew Meyer on NECN

In the interview, Meyer faults the board for taking a soft approach to discipline and for appointing to the board a physician with a pending medical malpractice lawsuit against him. Meyer says that the Board of Registration is a licensing authority, and it should be run more by consumers who understand what bad medicine is about, rather than doctors.

Says Meyer,

"It’s the Governor and the Department of Health and Human Services are putting these people on the Board, and the Board, unfortunately, for the most part, not in total, but for the most part is controlled by the Mass. Medical Society. They put the people they want on the Board. They protect the doctors in Massachusetts, and there’s very little protection for the patients."

"We see the same names on a regular basis. We see the same hospitals show up time and time again with the same problems, and one of the major issues is that there’s no corrective action being taken. There’s much more of a 'circle the wagons' mentality to protect the reputation — the insurance company is trying to protect their own financial interest, and there’s no effort to expose the mistakes, make changes, change policies and procedures to protect patients."

To view the full interview, go to: Massachusetts Medical Board Complaints.

To view the Boston Magazine article, go to: The Secret Truth About Boston Doctors.

Questions about medical malpractice?

Lubin & Meyer can evaluate your case at no cost, with no obligation. Please contact us at (617) 720-4447. Or click the button below to fill out a form and we will contact you.

Representing individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Andrew Meyer Holds Massachusetts Medical Board Responsible for Failing to Protect Patients from Dangerous Doctors

Boston's Top Medical Malpractice Attorney Featured Prominently in Boston Magazine Exposé 

Boston med-mal attorney and patient safety advocate Andrew C. Meyer, Jr.

Boston Magazine features an exposé by writer Michael Damiano who reports on the secretive world of Boston doctors. A world where physicians who have had multiple claims of medical malpractice brought against them, continue to practice medicine and avoid accountability or punishment. In The Secret Truth About Boston Doctors, Damiano turns to Andrew Meyer to provide perspective on the situation.

Writes Damiano:

“Meyer is not only Boston's most prolific medical malpractice attorney, but he also has one of the best views of how the system that is supposed to protect patients from bad doctors consistently fails. Every month, his firm, Lubin & Meyer, fields hundreds of calls from people who believe they have been harmed by negligent care.”

Damiano cites sexual misconduct, sloppy mistakes often with catastrophic consequences, and a medical board that often looks the other way. The article is built around the medical saga of Lubin & Meyer client, Charles Antonio, who suffered a serious injury during spine surgery by surgeon, Michael Medlock, MD. Antonio was unaware that his physician had settled several medical malpractice lawsuits filed by other patients also injured during surgery. To make matters worse, Damiano reveals that this same doctor was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, the independent state agency that oversees licensing, regulation and the discipline of physicians that have harmed patients.

“When physicians with histories of bad outcomes do face consequences, the sanctions tend to be temporary or easily circumvented. Doctors quietly leave one hospital, only to pop up at another. In severe cases, a doctor with a history of problems might leave Massachusetts altogether and reboot his or her career in another state,” reports Damiano.

Who Will Protect Patients from Dangerous Doctors?

According to Meyer, the medical board and state government have never adequately protected patients. He describes the work of his medical malpractice law firm as the only recourse against the powerful medical regime, serving in essence as a consumer protection bureau for patients.

“Many medical professionals approach their work with the seriousness, preparation and abundance of caution that we as patients would expect. But there exists among physicians a culture of protecting one another, a lack of transparency, and an ultimate failure to self regulate when serious behavior problems and bad outcomes occur. It's a dangerous situation with repeat offenders being allowed to move from facility to facility and continue to do harm under a shroud of secrecy.”

“We often are the only defense for patients and their families whose lives have been forever changed as a result of a preventable medical error. Our important work on behalf of our clients holds medical professionals responsible, exposes dangerous medical practices and advocates for the safety of all patients.” — Andrew C. Meyer, Jr.

To read the full Boston Magazine feature length article, see below.

Questions about medical malpractice?

Lubin & Meyer can evaluate your case at not cost, with no obligation. Please contact us at (617) 720-4447. Or click the button below to fill out a form and we will contact you.

Representing individuals and families in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Recent Medical Malpractice Verdict and Settlement Reports Now Available

Year after year Lubin & Meyer PC outpaces all other medical malpractice law firms achieving more verdicts and settlements than any other firm in New England. (See related story: Lubin & Meyer Stands Apart in Medical Malpractice Verdicts and Settlements.)

Search medical malpractice trial reports

We publish on our website summaries of some of those cases. Most recently, we have added the following trial lawyer reports as follows.

• $10.7 Million Verdict
  Lawrence General Hospital Surgeon for Failing to Treat Intestinal Leak
  Failure to recognize signs of intestinal leak and retained surgical sponge, results in infection, colostomy and additional surgeries
  Attorneys: Nicholas Cappiello and John Carucci
• $3.75 Million Settlement
  Paralysis Following Spinal Hematoma 
  Delay in the diagnosis and treatment of a spinal cord hematoma while recovering from stroke results in paralysis
  Attorneys: Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and William J. Thompson
• $2.25 Million Settlement
  Delay in Spinal Surgery Results in Injury/Death
  Failure to timely operate on epidual hematoma results in paraplegia, bowel and bladder abnormalties, sepsis and death
  Attorneys: Robert M. Higgins and Barrie S. Duchesneau
• $2 Million Settlement
  Perforated Bowel Infection 
  Perforated bowel during weight loss surgery causes massive infection, host of injuries and additional surgeries
  Attorneys: Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and William J. Thompson
• $1.5 Million Settlement
  Failure to Diagnose Perforated Intestine
  Wrongful death lawsuit alleged 58 year old man should have been admitted to the hospital for abdominal CT scan and surgical consult
  Attorneys:  Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and Krysia J. Syska
• $1 Million Settlement
  Death of 3-day-old from Birth Injury
  Lawsuit claims delay in delivery and failure to recognize changes in fetal heart rate tracings resulted in death of baby from severe diffuse anoxic brain injury
  Attorneys: Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and William J. Thompson
• $1 Million Settlement
  Lung Cancer Claim Settles Prior to Filing of Lawsuit  
  PCP's failure to follow up on radiologist's recommendations denied patient earlier treatment that would have prolonged patient’s life.
  Attorneys: Andrew C. Meyer, Jr. and William J. Thompson

Many more trial reports are available on our website:
Search Verdicts and Settlements.

You can search our archive of verdicts and settlements by keyword. Please note that the archive does not include every result. Also, past performance does not guarantee future results.

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law

Questions about a medical error? Contact us for a free case review. Representing patients in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode  Island.

$35.4 Million Verdict in Mother’s Childbirth Stroke Case Upheld on Appeal

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has upheld a $35.4 million verdict from 2015, in a medical malpractice lawsuit (Larkin v. Johnston) involving injury to a mother during childbirth. The lawsuit was brought by a 28-year-old mother who was left paralyzed by a stroke hours after the vaginal birth of her daughter. Andrea Larkin received prenatal care by the OB/GYN group at Dedham Medical Associates, where previously her primary care physician, Dr. Johnston, had found brain abnormalities including an aneurysm that were never discussed with her or recorded in her medical record's “problem list,” as required by DMA policy.

Lubin & Meyer represented the plaintiff at trial. The total judgment will include the addition of pre-verdict statutory interest. For more information, see the trial report here.

See the appeal document here: Timothy Larkin v. Dedham Medical Associates, Inc.

Attorney Adam Satin represented the plaintiff on appeal.

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Questions about injuries to an infant or mother before, during or after delivery?

Our birth injury attorneys and on-staff nurses are available to evaluate the circumstances surrounding your injuries. Please contact us to request a free case review. No obligation.

Our attorneys practice in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. 

View our main website at LubinandMeyer.com - Lubin & Meyer PC - New England's Leader in Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury Law