Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A New York appellate court affirmed a trial court’s denial of a plaintiff’s motion to set aside a jury verdict in a wrongful death case involving a man who died after choking on a piece of meat at a nursing home.

While residing at Menorah Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care, Nathan Wasserberg choked on a piece of meat, went into cardiac arrest, and fell into a coma. He died several weeks later. Suit against the nursing home alleged wrongful death and malpractice for the negligence of the defendant’s staff in failing to check Wasserberg’s airway for an obstruction. The jury awarded $300,000, and the plaintiff moved to set aside the verdict on the issue of damages, which the plaintiff argued were inadequate and contrary to the weight of the evidence. The trial court denied the motion.

Affirming, the appellate court concluded that based on the evidence presented at trial, there was a valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences from which the jury could have concluded that the defendant had departed from accepted standards of medical care in failing to check Wasserberg’s airway. Moreover, the court concluded that the damages award did not deviate materially from what would be considered reasonable compensation.

Citation: Wasserberg v. Menorah Ctr. for Rehab. & Nursing Care, 2021 WL 3889853 (N.Y. App. Div. Sept. 1, 2021).