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Family of Slain New York Times Reporter David Rosenbaum Settles Medical Malpractice Lawsuit with Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C.

By Jack Lebowitz, Esq. and Vadim Mzhen, Esq.

In Washington D.C., Howard University Hospital and Daniel and Dorothy Rosenbaum, the adult children of deceased New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum, have reached a settlement in the medical malpractice and negligence lawsuit filed against D.C. emergency workers and the hospital.

The 63-year-old reporter, who had just retired after 30 years of working for the Times, was seriously injured during a street robbery in Northwest Washington D.C. on January 26, 2006. Rosenbaum?s son and daughter filed their medical malpractice and negligence lawsuit a year ago last November after the D.C. inspector general?s office found that paramedics, firefighters, police, and hospital personnel failed to treat Rosenbaum.

Emergency workers found Rosenbaum on the sidewalk in a barely conscious state. The report, however, says that they did not realize he was seriously injured. They thought he was drunk. The ambulance he was riding in took Rosenbaum to Howard University Hospital, instead of a hospital located closer to the crime scene, because one of the workers had personal business in that area.

Rosenbaum was placed on a gurney at the hospital where he was left unattended. A doctor did not examine him for over 90 minutes. He was finally given a neurological exam nearly four hours after he arrived at the hospital. He died two days later.

Rosenbaum?s children were also upset that police did not follow up on a lead related to a beating crime that occurred several weeks before their father was assaulted. One of the men convicted of attacking Rosenbaum was also the attacker in the earlier assault.

Rosenbaum?s children say the failures to act by emergency workers, police, and the hospital were partially responsible for their father?s death. Rosenbaum?s children reached a settlement with the District in March. They agreed to forgo financial compensation as long as the city revised the way its emergency medical response system works. The details of the agreement with Howard University Hospital remain confidential.

If someone you love died because of the negligence of a hospital, police, emergency workers, a nursing home staff, or anyone else, you should contact a Maryland or Washington D.C. personal injury lawyer right away.

Hospitals are supposed to administer patients with a reasonable standard of care. Failure to do so is medical malpractice and grounds for a claim or lawsuit.

Rosenbaum Lawsuit Settled, Washington Post, December 21, 2007

Family of slain New York Times reporter settles medical malpractice lawsuit with D.C. hospital, IHT.com/AP, December 21, 2007

Related Web Resources:

Slain Journalist's Family Files $20 Million Lawsuit, Washington Post, November 21, 2006

Howard University Hospital in Washington D.C.

Full post as published by Maryland Accident Law Blog on December 21, 2007 (boomark / email).