Supreme Court, Richmond County grants summary judgment to neurosurgeon who allegedly failed to obtain biopsy of paraspinal mass, resulting in a delayed diagnosis of diffuse large B cell lymphoma

Gerspach Sikoscow obtained summary judgment and an outright dismissal on behalf of a neurosurgeon who performed an L5 – S1 discectomy and L5 nerve root decompression on a 38-year-old male. In the post-operative period, the patient developed a paraspinal mass in the area of his incisions, which our client investigated with an MRI, bone scan, and labs. A few weeks after these tests were completed, the patient was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) via a duodenal biopsy taken during an EGD ordered by his PCP to investigate nausea and vomiting. In opposition to our summary judgment motion, plaintiff and his expert alleged that our client negligently failed to perform exploratory surgery to obtain a biopsy and cultures of the paraspinal mass. In reply, we argued that plaintiff’s expert, an orthopedic hand surgeon, failed to lay the requisite foundation to support the reliability of his opinions as to the standards of care applicable to the field of neurosurgery. We also argued that plaintiff had failed to rebut the opinions of our lymphoma expert, who averred that the alleged delay in plaintiff’s cancer diagnosis had no effect on his prognosis and treatment. The court agreed with our contentions, granted our motion, and dismissed the case with prejudice.