A New York jury has returned a plaintiff's verdict against NYC Health + Hospitals in a wrongful death case involving a 23-year-old woman who died after a 12-hour delay in insulin treatment for diabetic ketoacidosis at Woodhull Hospital. The verdict, announced by Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Firm, carries significance beyond New York, highlighting persistent disparities in emergency care that can affect underserved communities across the country, including those in Long Beach and surrounding areas.
The lawsuit centered on the care the woman received in February 2020, when she arrived at the emergency room with severe abdominal pain and vomiting. Although lab results within hours showed signs consistent with pancreatitis, physicians treated only that condition and did not address the underlying diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that occurs when a lack of insulin allows the blood to turn acidic. Attorneys Kevin Lee and Rikki Dascal litigated the case on the family's behalf. During cross-examination, they got the treating physician to concede that the delay in starting insulin fell below an acceptable standard of care. By the time insulin was administered, the wrong type was given for her condition. She died two and a half weeks after arrival.
Physician experts from Harvard Medical School and Johns Hopkins Medical School testified that the 12-hour treatment delay significantly reduced her chance of survival. The jury deliberated for roughly one hour and 44 minutes before returning its verdict. NYC Health + Hospitals argued that a busy emergency room contributed to the delay, but the jury rejected that argument.
The case's implications extend to hospital systems everywhere, particularly those serving low-income and minority populations. Firm attorneys point to research showing that low-income and minority patients face longer emergency room wait times and lower quality care more often than other patients. The outcome underscores the need for consistent treatment standards regardless of a hospital's location or patient population. "This trial is your opportunity to hold a hospital in your community to the same standard of care as any other hospital in New York City," Dascal said in closing arguments. "Regardless of which hospital our client walked into, she should have received the same level of care."
For Long Beach-area businesses and organizations, the verdict serves as a reminder of the importance of equitable healthcare access and the role of legal accountability in driving improvements. The firm's medical malpractice and hospital negligence practice, which includes wrongful death lawyers, has represented patients and families harmed by delayed diagnoses and treatment failures for over five decades. The case adds to the firm's record in wrongful death litigation against public and private medical providers, reinforcing that hospitals can be held to account when standards of care are not met.
