Patient Files Suit Against St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City

Alleged Use by the Hospital of an HIV Infected Device During a Routine Procedure

NEW YORK, Nov. 22 - Milvia Lopez, by her attorney MICHAEL STEWART FRANKEL, of New York City, recently filed suit, in Supreme Court, New York County, bearing Index # 112888/2009. The complaint alleges that while Ms. Lopez underwent a routine transesophageal echocardiogram ("TEE") at ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL, doctors used an HIV infected scope exposing her to HIV.

The complaint alleges that several hours after being discharged from the procedure and arriving back at her home, Ms. Lopez received a phone call from an employee of ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL in which she was asked to urgently return to the hospital. Upon returning to ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL by means of a limousine provided by the hospital, Ms. Lopez was told that non-sterile equipment had been used by ST. VINCENT'S HOSPITAL during her TEE procedure. It is alleged that Ms. Lopez was advised that she had been exposed to HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C due to the use of the non-sterile equipment during her procedure. This resulted in Ms. Lopez undergoing anti HIV treatment. Ms. Lopez is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

The complaint also alleges concealment of records by the hospital.

The Michael Stewart Frankel Law Firm has successfully represented many litigants in complex litigation over a period of decades and has been the attorney of record on precedent setting and reported cases including Juarez v. Wavecrest Mgt. Team, Ltd., 212 A.D.2d 38 (1st Dept.1995), rev'd 88 N.Y.2d 628 (1996); Cortes v. Riverbridge Realty Co., 227 A.D.2d 430 (2d Dept.1996); Public Service Mutual Insurance Co. v. Ayfas Realty Corp., 234 A.D.2d 226 (1st Dept.1996), lv. dism 90 N.Y.2d 844 (1997); Nwaru v. Leeds Mgt. Co., 236 A.D.2d 252 (1st Dept.1997) Calderone v. Levites Realty Mgt. Corp., 246 A.D.2d 458 (1st Dept.1998); Pena v. Classic Realty Mgt. Corp., 247 A.D.2d 215 (1st Dept.1998); Kelly v. New York City Housing Auth., 248 A.D.2d 594 (2d Dept.1998); Lopez v. No Kit Realty Corp., 254 A.D.2d 155 (1st Dept.1998) Cartegena v. Tang, 260 AD2d 337 (2d Dept 1999); Vargas v. Menorah Realty Corp., 274 AD2d 428 (1st Dept 2000); Tejeda v. 116 West Corp., 293 AD2d 261 (1st Dept 2002); Zaman v Patwary, 295 AD2d 424 (2d Dept 2002); Munoz v. Puretz, 301 AD2d 382 (1st Dept 2003); Perez v. New York City Housing Authority, 304 AD2d 736 (2d Dept 2003); Bligen v. Markland Estates, Inc., 6 AD3d 371 (2d Dept 2004).

The Michael Stewart Frankel Law Firm is located at 275 Madison Avenue, in New York City and can be reached at (212) 888-5100.