New Jersey Supreme Court to Hear Malpractice Suit Against The Valley Hospital

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, when 43-year-old Viviana Ruscitto died after she underwent a hysterectomy in 2014 that spread cancer cells throughout her abdomen, it led to a malpractice suit against The Valley Hospital and her surgeon. Seven years later, that case has reached the New Jersey Supreme Court, whose decision may influence future doctors’ actions and recourse for patients when medical procedures cause harm.

The state’s top court also will help determine how much Ruscitto’s heirs, including her son, Maximo, who was 2 years old when she died, receive in damages.

Viviana Ruscitto had been diagnosed with stage 4 uterine cancer. Her death was blamed on the use of a surgical tool called a power Morcellator. Morcellators are used in laparoscopic, or minimally invasive, surgery. They chop up tissue so it can be taken out of the body through a small opening. The lawsuit alleges the tool spread the cancer around.

The lawsuit names Dr. Howard H. Jones, currently identified on Valley’s website as director of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery, along with The Valley Hospital, its CEO Audrey Meyers, and Linda Malkin, its former director of risk management, as defendants.

The lawsuit claims the doctor should have known better than to use a power morcellator and the hospital should have limited its use and required patients to be informed of its risks.

The device came under heavy scrutiny and in April 2014 the FDA released a safety alert against morcellators, acknowledging that the device can spread undetected cancer cells.

The agency said some of the minced undetected cancerous tissue fragments could be left behind in the abdominal cavity and spread to other parts of the body.

The government discouraged doctors from using the morcellators and encouraged professionals to discuss the risks and benefits with their patients.

The device’s largest manufacturer, Ethicon, a division of Johnson & Johnson, promptly pulled the morcellator off the market.

The suit was filed by attorneys Michael Gunzburg of New York and Demetrios Stratis of Fair Lawn on behalf of Ruscitto’s son and husband. The lawsuit states the defendants’ actions were so egregious, the suit argues, that they should be forced to pay punitive damages , a rare outcome in medical malpractice lawsuits, where damages are usually limited to compensation for pain and suffering and lost wages.

The trial is set for April 4 in Superior Court in Bergen County. The court is expected to rule soon on whether the claim for punitive damages will remain. Regardless of its decision, the case can still proceed to seek compensatory claims.