Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A New York appellate court held that summary judgment was improper in a case alleging a physician assistant and supervising physician failed to provide proper discharge instructions to a patient who presented to a hospital for evaluation of a painful breast lump.

Jahaira Almonte went to a hospital emergency room, complaining of a painful lump in her breast. She was triaged by nurse Fabienne Varas and examined by physician assistant Monica Rogan. Rogan allegedly told Almonte that her lump was a cyst and provided information about cysts and fibrocystic breast changes. The documents Almonte received at discharge allegedly did not provide a treatment plan, including follow-up to rule out cancer. Approximately 13 months later, Almonte was referred for an ultrasound, which led to a breast cancer diagnosis. By the time she began treatment, Almonte’s cancer was Stage IV.

Almonte brought a malpractice suit against Rogan, alleging failure to provide a diagnosis and adequate discharge instructions, and against Varas, alleging failure to recognize the discharge instructions were deficient. Suit also named supervising physician Nadia Shaukat, alleging failure to recognize deficiencies in Almonte’s chart and instruct Rogan to correct them before cosigning. The defendants moved successfully for summary judgment.

Reversing, the appellate court noted that although the defendants had made a prima facie showing that they had not departed from the applicable standard of care, there were disputed issues of fact that preclude summary judgment. The court found that the plaintiff had provided expert opinion that physicians must review physician assistants’ work to ensure conformity with the standard of care and that Shaukat allegedly had failed to meet this standard by not recognizing alleged deficiencies in the plaintiff’s chart. Additionally, the court said, the defendants failed to establish that any alleged departure from the applicable standard of care did not lead to the plaintiff’s injuries, including her diminished chances of a better outcome in light of her delayed diagnosis.

Consequently, the court vacated the lower court’s judgment.

Citation: Almonte v. Shaukat, 2022 WL 1008765 (N.Y. App. Div. Apr. 5, 2022).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ member Annette G. Hasapidis, South Salem, N.Y.