$5.4M medical malpractice award for Staten Island man

By Frank Donnelly Staten Island Advance

Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel A jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, awarded Robert Messina $5.4 million Friday in a medical malpractice trial. The panel found SIUH was 75 percent liable, meaning it's on the hook for just over $4 million, said Messina's lawyer, Mitchel H. Ashley.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --  Robert Messina loved sailing on his 33-foot cruiser yacht, traveling and working as a kitchen designer.

But the Meiers Corners resident is in a wheelchair and had to sell his beloved boat after severe bedsores he suffered in the hospital almost five years ago led to a debilitating hip infection and other complications, he said.

And while a multimillion-dollar verdict he just received against Staten Island University Hospital is some measure of consolation, Messina, 63, said he’d trade the cash in a heartbeat to get around on his own two feet.

“I’m happy [about the verdict] but I’d give every dime back to walk,” Messina said last week in a telephone interview. “I can’t drive. You don’t have any freedom.”

A jury in state Supreme Court, St. George, awarded Messina $5.4 million Friday in a medical malpractice trial. The panel found SIUH was 75 percent liable, meaning it’s on the hook for just over $4 million, said Messina’s lawyer, Mitchel H. Ashley. Only one “l” in his first name.

The panel also determined Golden Gate Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, where Messina also received care, was 25 percent liable said the attorney. The Vietnam veteran, however, won’t receive any money from the home because it was not a named party to the case, said Ashley.

“I think he’s been through an enormous amount of pain and suffering and I’m glad he got the justice he deserves,” Ashley, a principal of the Ashley Law Firm in Manhattan, said of his client.

SIUH will appeal, Arleen Ryback, a spokeswoman, said.

“We feel strongly that the evidence did not substantiate the verdict,” said Ms. Ryback.

Ashley said his client was 58 on Aug. 31, 2006, when he suffered a health episode. He had left the house for work and his wife, Carol, saw him outside, shirtless, with no car keys. She called an ambulance and Messina was taken to SIUH, where he was intubated and sedated, said Ashley.

Messina had no marks of any kind on his skin when he arrived at the hospital, his lawyer said.

Doctors gave him a working diagnosis of encephalopathy, or brain dysfunction, including altered mental status, the attorney said. At the time of his admission, Messina suffered from a variety of other health problems, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, gallstones and high cholesterol, court papers stated.

While Messina remembers nothing of September 2006, hospital records show he had severe bedsores on his skin near his lower spine on Sept. 4, several days after his admission, the lawyer and court records said.

The bedsores worsened and Messina wound up with ulcers on his mouth, buttock, genitals and ankles, said Ashley. Treatment consisted of applying topical creams and surgically removing dead or infected tissue, court records show.

In late October 2006, Messina, who was on a ventilator, was transferred to Golden Gate after all but the spinal and ankle bedsores had healed, said Ashley.

Over the next year, Messina was transferred between the hospital and nursing home several times. During that time, he suffered respiratory failure and a breakdown of muscle fibers that led to kidney failure, said his lawyer.

On one occasion, Messina was brought back to SIUH after a spinal ulcer had “explode[d],” and was found to have osteomyelitis, an acute or chronic bone infection, in his right hip, said Ashley.

The lawyer said his client’s hip is dislocated, but he can’t get a hip replacement because of the infection. As a result, he must use a wheelchair.

Messina sued the hospital, alleging his treatment there had departed from acceptable practices. In essence, he claimed that improper treatment of his bedsores led to the hip infection and dislocation.

SIUH contended the wound became infected in the nursing home, Ashley said.

Messina said his life has changed dramatically in the last five years.

He must use a wheelchair and can’t work. Unable to enjoy his boat, he recently sold it. He no longer travels as he once did.

Although he has shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars, Messina said it’s still unclear what caused the condition that led him to be hospitalized in the first place.

While he hasn’t had many reasons to smile lately, Messina credits his wife, Carol, and daughter, Andrea, with getting him through these tough times.

“She helps me with everything.” he said.

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