When Preston J. Douglas worked for the law firm of Fuchsberg and Fuchsberg he handled a medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of Dr. Sidney A. Hollin, a neurosurgeon who caused the death of my wife Phyllis. In the process of handling the lawsuit Mr. Douglas wasted $2,000. of my money on an unnecessary expert witness. Following are the details of what occurred.
In November, 1975 Phyllis who was 19 years old and living with her parents in Forest Hills, NY, was referred to Dr. Sidney A. Hollin at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC for additional neurological testing. She had previously been diagnosed at Booth Memorial Hospital in Queens with a large berry aneurysm (bubble) on her right internal carotid artery. Dr. Hollin ordered an angiogram of only her right internal carotid artery.
The reason this was done is because in about 20-35% of all berry aneurysm cases there is more than one aneurysm on the artery, so Dr. Hollin was looking for additional aneurysms. After the test Dr. Hollin informed Phyllis and her parents that there was a clear diagnosis of a single aneurysm that could be surgically cured.
The surgical procedure he was going to perform was a craniotomy and clipping of the aneurysm. By placing a surgical clip across the neck of the aneurysm it cuts off the flow of blood to the aneurysm and cures the patient. This procedure is still in use today.
On November 13, 1975 Dr. Hollin, Dr. M. S. Klein, a resident neurosurgeon, and Dr. J. Wancier, an intern performed the surgery. After the operation Dr. Hollin told Phyllis and her parents that it was a complete success and that Phyllis was cured and would be able to lead a normal life. She was discharged from the hospital on November 25, 1975. Phyllis and I were married in 1977.
For the next few years Phyllis saw Dr. Hollin for office check ups and appeared to be fine. On June 10, 1981, approximately 5.5 years after the surgery, she went to Dr. Hollin for a check-up to see if it was safe for her to become pregnant. At that appointment Dr. Hollin gave her an in office neuro exam and told her that it was safe for her to become pregnant.
This was her last appointment with Dr. Hollin. In November, 1982 Phyllis gave birth to our son. On March 18, 1984 all of a sudden she lapsed into a coma due to a massive cerebral hemorrhage and was sent to St. John’s Hospital in Queens where she was put on life support. After calling the immediate family to inform them of the situation, I called Dr. Hollin. As it turns out Dr. Hollin had just passed away on March 13, 1984 so his secretary sent me a copy of his office records. Phyllis then passed away on April 5, 1984.
The medical records I received were Dr. Hollin’s operative report, Dr. Klein's hospital report and Dr. Hollin’s office journal which contained a record of Phyllis’ check-ups with him. Upon reviewing the reports I was shocked to learn that Phyllis had been diagnosed with two berry aneurysms at Mt. Sinai Hospital and not one as we had been told. An attending neurologist reviewed the reports and told me that he suspected medical malpractice since Dr. Hollin did not say in his report why he did not clip one of the aneurysms.
The neurologist also said an angiogram should have been performed prior to Dr. Hollin advising pregnancy. My personal attorney then contacted a law firm who obtained Phyllis' hospital records and initiated a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Hollin’s estate. As it turns out the Mt. Sinai Angiogram revealed a second smaller aneurysm further up on the right internal carotid artery. Instead of clipping that aneurysm to cure it, Dr. Hollin wrapped muslin cloth around it. The ramifications of this are explained below.
An independent autopsy was performed at Albert Einstein Medical College in NYC and the stated cause of death was the rupture of a giant berry aneurysm on Phyllis’ right internal carotid artery. As Dr. Haroupian, the Albert Einstein neuropathologist explained it to me, the clip cured the larger aneurysm, it put pressure on the smaller aneurysm and muslin became part of the arterial wall.
Muslin is used to coat and support arteries and is only wrapped around aneurysms that do not have a neck and cannot be clipped. By wrapping the smaller aneurysm with muslin, Dr. Hollin preserved it and left Phyllis with the aneurysm still on her artery. The muslin controlled the smaller aneurysm for about 5 years but once it became fully incorporated into the arterial wall there was now a single larger berry aneurysm that spanned the distance between the original two aneurysms. In other words Dr. Hollin’s operation promoted the growth of the smaller aneurysm so that it turned into a giant berry aneurysm that ruptured and caused Phyllis’ death 8.5 years after the operation.
In January, 1989 the lawsuit was moved to the law firm of Fuchsberg and Fuchsberg and Preston J. Douglas was assigned the case. I gave Mr. Douglas the medical records that were in my possession and explained to him what was known at the time. Namely:
1) That Dr. Hollin knew about two berry aneurysms from the Mt. Sinai angiogram as noted by his operative report and the angiography report.
2) That Dr. Hollin told Phyllis and her parents prior to the operation that she had one aneurysm that was going to be clipped as noted by the operation consent form.
3) That Dr. Hollin gave no specific reason in his report as to why he didn’t clip the smaller aneurysm.
4) That Dr. Klein listed two aneurysms as a pre-operative diagnosis in his hand written hospital notes but when he dictated his report he claimed that the Mt. Sinai angiogram showed one aneurysm and the second one was discovered during the operation and then wrapped with muslin.
5) That Dr. Klein filed a falsified discharge sheet when Phyllis was discharged from the hospital claiming the entire procedure that was performed was clipping of a single aneurysm.
6) That Dr. Hollin didn’t file his operative report until 10 months after the operation.
7) That Phyllis complained to Dr. Hollin of a weak right eye, nervousness and discomfort in her upper right arm and neck at her last appointment with Dr. Hollin as noted by his check-up sheet. These are classic symptoms of a large right internal carotid artery aneurysm.
8) That Dr. Hollin told the obstetrician that he had operated on a single aneurysm and Phyllis was cured as noted in the obstetrician’s consultation notes with Dr. Hollin.
9) That Dr. Hollin falsified his medical records to IDS Life Insurance company when we applied for life insurance seven years after the operation claiming that he had advised a CT scan at Phyllis’ last appointment.
10) That Dr. Haroupian described the operation as a time bomb that caused Phyllis’ death.
11) That if Dr. Hollin was alive when I called him after Phyllis lapsed into a coma, he would have shown up at St. John’s Hospital and sent her back to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he would have been able to cover up what he had done to her for all those years.
In the State of NY you have 2.5 years from the date of last appointment with the doctor to file a medical malpractice lawsuit for ordinary negligence. Phyllis’ last appointment was June 10, 1981 and she passed away on April 5, 1984 which is 2 years and 10 months, 4 months passed the deadline.
I asked Mr. Douglas if the statute of limitations could be tolled in this case since Dr. Hollin lied to Phyllis and her other doctors about what he had done and he and Dr. Klein falsified medical records in an apparent attempt to cover up what they had done to Phyllis. Mr. Douglas told me that it could not be tolled. I also asked him if we could sue the other two surgeons and the hospital. He told me that since the surgery was 8.5 years prior, the statute of limitations had run out and could not be tolled.
In July, 1989 Mr. Douglas contacted an expert witness for an opinion on the case, a neurosurgeon, for which I paid $2,000. The expert witness said that he could not conclusively say the smaller aneurysm was supposed to be clipped without the Mt. Sinai angiogram which the hospital had routinely destroyed after seven years. He did say that Phyllis should have had a CT scan done prior to Dr. Hollin advising pregnancy.
In early 1991 the attorneys for Dr. Hollin’s estate filed a motion for summary dismissal of the case based upon the fact that Phyllis hadn’t seen Dr. Hollin within the last 2.5 years. Mr. Douglas filed his legal reply claiming that the entire malpractice was Dr. Hollin’s failure to advise a CT scan. He did not mention any of the facts I stated above nor did he provide any of the medical records that indicated what had actually happened. He did mention Dr. Hollin’s falsified document to the insurance company but he referred to it as an altered photostat and claimed that Dr. Hollin altered it because he felt guilty
Since Phyllis hadn’t seen Dr. Hollin in the last 2.5 years the judge dismissed the case and it never went to trial.
In 2007 I was cleaning out my closet and had the medical records stored there in a folder. Just for the heck of it I decided to read them. Halfway through the file was a consultant’s report that was not known to exist at the time the case was pending. It turns out that the consultant was working on behalf of Mt. Sinai Hospital to monitor Dr. Hollin’s activities. The report was written in the female intensive care unit immediately after the operation.
The consultant wrote in his report that both aneurysms had been clipped during the surgery indicating that Dr. Hollin lied to him in order to cover up what he had done to Phyllis in the operating room. Wrapping an aneurysm that is supposed to be clipped is an intentional malicious act and is a direct violation of standard medical procedure. If Dr. Hollin had told the consultant that he wrapped the aneurysm, the hospital would have had to investigate every operation that Dr. Hollin ever performed in order to find out just how many patients he had done this to.
Since this report was not known to exist at the time the lawsuit was pending, it is clear that Preston J. Douglas didn’t bother to read the medical records during the 2.5 years that he had the case under his control. In light of this report it is apparent that the entire malpractice was not just Dr. Hollin’s failure to advise a CT scan, but that he intentionally surgically mistreated the smaller aneurysm in order to cause Phyllis’ death years later.
It is also clear that the statute of limitations could have been tolled as doctors cannot engage in this type of malicious medical activity and then hide behind a 2.5 years statute of limitations. In fact in the State of NY the statute of limitations is tolled for 6 years past the date of discovery of the malpractice when fraud is involved which clearly was the case as far as Phyllis was concerned. It is also clear that the other two surgeons and the hospital should have been sued so every piece of legal advice that was rendered by Mr. Douglas in this case turned out to be 100% wrong.
The consultant would have been the only expert witness this case needed as he knew the smaller aneurysm was supposed to be clipped. He had already been pre-qualified as an expert by Mt. Sinai Hospital and his credentials had to be impeccable if he was monitoring Dr. Hollin since Dr. Hollin was one of Mt. Sinai Hospital’s top neurosurgeons. In addition there were four doctors directly involved with this case that were also qualified as expert witnesses and knew the smaller aneurysm was supposed to be clipped but Preston J. Douglas didn’t depose any of them. They were the other two surgeons, the radiologist and the neuropathologist.
In light of Mr. Douglas’ failure to read the medical records and failure to depose key witnesses, I wasted $2,000. on Mr. Douglas’ unnecessary expert witness. In addition, due to Mr. Douglas’ gross negligence and incompetence in handling this lawsuit, my son and I never received a penny of restitution in one of the most horrible cases of medical malpractice on record. Furthermore, a horrendous injustice was perpetrated as Dr. Hollin and his associates got away with their malicious medical activities scot-free. Therefore I do not recommend the professional services of Preston J. Douglas under any circumstances whatsoever.
I have two websites setup which discuss this case in detail complete with medical records and legal documents. They are https://drsidneyhollin.com and https://prestonjdouglas.com.
Preston J. Douglas Reviews
When Preston J. Douglas worked for the law firm of Fuchsberg and Fuchsberg he handled a medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit against the estate of Dr. Sidney A. Hollin, a neurosurgeon who caused the death of my wife Phyllis. In the process of handling the lawsuit Mr. Douglas wasted $2,000. of my money on an unnecessary expert witness. Following are the details of what occurred.
In November, 1975 Phyllis who was 19 years old and living with her parents in Forest Hills, NY, was referred to Dr. Sidney A. Hollin at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC for additional neurological testing. She had previously been diagnosed at Booth Memorial Hospital in Queens with a large berry aneurysm (bubble) on her right internal carotid artery. Dr. Hollin ordered an angiogram of only her right internal carotid artery.
The reason this was done is because in about 20-35% of all berry aneurysm cases there is more than one aneurysm on the artery, so Dr. Hollin was looking for additional aneurysms. After the test Dr. Hollin informed Phyllis and her parents that there was a clear diagnosis of a single aneurysm that could be surgically cured.
The surgical procedure he was going to perform was a craniotomy and clipping of the aneurysm. By placing a surgical clip across the neck of the aneurysm it cuts off the flow of blood to the aneurysm and cures the patient. This procedure is still in use today.
On November 13, 1975 Dr. Hollin, Dr. M. S. Klein, a resident neurosurgeon, and Dr. J. Wancier, an intern performed the surgery. After the operation Dr. Hollin told Phyllis and her parents that it was a complete success and that Phyllis was cured and would be able to lead a normal life. She was discharged from the hospital on November 25, 1975. Phyllis and I were married in 1977.
For the next few years Phyllis saw Dr. Hollin for office check ups and appeared to be fine. On June 10, 1981, approximately 5.5 years after the surgery, she went to Dr. Hollin for a check-up to see if it was safe for her to become pregnant. At that appointment Dr. Hollin gave her an in office neuro exam and told her that it was safe for her to become pregnant.
This was her last appointment with Dr. Hollin. In November, 1982 Phyllis gave birth to our son. On March 18, 1984 all of a sudden she lapsed into a coma due to a massive cerebral hemorrhage and was sent to St. John’s Hospital in Queens where she was put on life support. After calling the immediate family to inform them of the situation, I called Dr. Hollin. As it turns out Dr. Hollin had just passed away on March 13, 1984 so his secretary sent me a copy of his office records. Phyllis then passed away on April 5, 1984.
The medical records I received were Dr. Hollin’s operative report, Dr. Klein's hospital report and Dr. Hollin’s office journal which contained a record of Phyllis’ check-ups with him. Upon reviewing the reports I was shocked to learn that Phyllis had been diagnosed with two berry aneurysms at Mt. Sinai Hospital and not one as we had been told. An attending neurologist reviewed the reports and told me that he suspected medical malpractice since Dr. Hollin did not say in his report why he did not clip one of the aneurysms.
The neurologist also said an angiogram should have been performed prior to Dr. Hollin advising pregnancy. My personal attorney then contacted a law firm who obtained Phyllis' hospital records and initiated a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Hollin’s estate. As it turns out the Mt. Sinai Angiogram revealed a second smaller aneurysm further up on the right internal carotid artery. Instead of clipping that aneurysm to cure it, Dr. Hollin wrapped muslin cloth around it. The ramifications of this are explained below.
An independent autopsy was performed at Albert Einstein Medical College in NYC and the stated cause of death was the rupture of a giant berry aneurysm on Phyllis’ right internal carotid artery. As Dr. Haroupian, the Albert Einstein neuropathologist explained it to me, the clip cured the larger aneurysm, it put pressure on the smaller aneurysm and muslin became part of the arterial wall.
Muslin is used to coat and support arteries and is only wrapped around aneurysms that do not have a neck and cannot be clipped. By wrapping the smaller aneurysm with muslin, Dr. Hollin preserved it and left Phyllis with the aneurysm still on her artery. The muslin controlled the smaller aneurysm for about 5 years but once it became fully incorporated into the arterial wall there was now a single larger berry aneurysm that spanned the distance between the original two aneurysms. In other words Dr. Hollin’s operation promoted the growth of the smaller aneurysm so that it turned into a giant berry aneurysm that ruptured and caused Phyllis’ death 8.5 years after the operation.
In January, 1989 the lawsuit was moved to the law firm of Fuchsberg and Fuchsberg and Preston J. Douglas was assigned the case. I gave Mr. Douglas the medical records that were in my possession and explained to him what was known at the time. Namely:
1) That Dr. Hollin knew about two berry aneurysms from the Mt. Sinai angiogram as noted by his operative report and the angiography report.
2) That Dr. Hollin told Phyllis and her parents prior to the operation that she had one aneurysm that was going to be clipped as noted by the operation consent form.
3) That Dr. Hollin gave no specific reason in his report as to why he didn’t clip the smaller aneurysm.
4) That Dr. Klein listed two aneurysms as a pre-operative diagnosis in his hand written hospital notes but when he dictated his report he claimed that the Mt. Sinai angiogram showed one aneurysm and the second one was discovered during the operation and then wrapped with muslin.
5) That Dr. Klein filed a falsified discharge sheet when Phyllis was discharged from the hospital claiming the entire procedure that was performed was clipping of a single aneurysm.
6) That Dr. Hollin didn’t file his operative report until 10 months after the operation.
7) That Phyllis complained to Dr. Hollin of a weak right eye, nervousness and discomfort in her upper right arm and neck at her last appointment with Dr. Hollin as noted by his check-up sheet. These are classic symptoms of a large right internal carotid artery aneurysm.
8) That Dr. Hollin told the obstetrician that he had operated on a single aneurysm and Phyllis was cured as noted in the obstetrician’s consultation notes with Dr. Hollin.
9) That Dr. Hollin falsified his medical records to IDS Life Insurance company when we applied for life insurance seven years after the operation claiming that he had advised a CT scan at Phyllis’ last appointment.
10) That Dr. Haroupian described the operation as a time bomb that caused Phyllis’ death.
11) That if Dr. Hollin was alive when I called him after Phyllis lapsed into a coma, he would have shown up at St. John’s Hospital and sent her back to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he would have been able to cover up what he had done to her for all those years.
In the State of NY you have 2.5 years from the date of last appointment with the doctor to file a medical malpractice lawsuit for ordinary negligence. Phyllis’ last appointment was June 10, 1981 and she passed away on April 5, 1984 which is 2 years and 10 months, 4 months passed the deadline.
I asked Mr. Douglas if the statute of limitations could be tolled in this case since Dr. Hollin lied to Phyllis and her other doctors about what he had done and he and Dr. Klein falsified medical records in an apparent attempt to cover up what they had done to Phyllis. Mr. Douglas told me that it could not be tolled. I also asked him if we could sue the other two surgeons and the hospital. He told me that since the surgery was 8.5 years prior, the statute of limitations had run out and could not be tolled.
In July, 1989 Mr. Douglas contacted an expert witness for an opinion on the case, a neurosurgeon, for which I paid $2,000. The expert witness said that he could not conclusively say the smaller aneurysm was supposed to be clipped without the Mt. Sinai angiogram which the hospital had routinely destroyed after seven years. He did say that Phyllis should have had a CT scan done prior to Dr. Hollin advising pregnancy.
In early 1991 the attorneys for Dr. Hollin’s estate filed a motion for summary dismissal of the case based upon the fact that Phyllis hadn’t seen Dr. Hollin within the last 2.5 years. Mr. Douglas filed his legal reply claiming that the entire malpractice was Dr. Hollin’s failure to advise a CT scan. He did not mention any of the facts I stated above nor did he provide any of the medical records that indicated what had actually happened. He did mention Dr. Hollin’s falsified document to the insurance company but he referred to it as an altered photostat and claimed that Dr. Hollin altered it because he felt guilty
Since Phyllis hadn’t seen Dr. Hollin in the last 2.5 years the judge dismissed the case and it never went to trial.
In 2007 I was cleaning out my closet and had the medical records stored there in a folder. Just for the heck of it I decided to read them. Halfway through the file was a consultant’s report that was not known to exist at the time the case was pending. It turns out that the consultant was working on behalf of Mt. Sinai Hospital to monitor Dr. Hollin’s activities. The report was written in the female intensive care unit immediately after the operation.
The consultant wrote in his report that both aneurysms had been clipped during the surgery indicating that Dr. Hollin lied to him in order to cover up what he had done to Phyllis in the operating room. Wrapping an aneurysm that is supposed to be clipped is an intentional malicious act and is a direct violation of standard medical procedure. If Dr. Hollin had told the consultant that he wrapped the aneurysm, the hospital would have had to investigate every operation that Dr. Hollin ever performed in order to find out just how many patients he had done this to.
Since this report was not known to exist at the time the lawsuit was pending, it is clear that Preston J. Douglas didn’t bother to read the medical records during the 2.5 years that he had the case under his control. In light of this report it is apparent that the entire malpractice was not just Dr. Hollin’s failure to advise a CT scan, but that he intentionally surgically mistreated the smaller aneurysm in order to cause Phyllis’ death years later.
It is also clear that the statute of limitations could have been tolled as doctors cannot engage in this type of malicious medical activity and then hide behind a 2.5 years statute of limitations. In fact in the State of NY the statute of limitations is tolled for 6 years past the date of discovery of the malpractice when fraud is involved which clearly was the case as far as Phyllis was concerned. It is also clear that the other two surgeons and the hospital should have been sued so every piece of legal advice that was rendered by Mr. Douglas in this case turned out to be 100% wrong.
The consultant would have been the only expert witness this case needed as he knew the smaller aneurysm was supposed to be clipped. He had already been pre-qualified as an expert by Mt. Sinai Hospital and his credentials had to be impeccable if he was monitoring Dr. Hollin since Dr. Hollin was one of Mt. Sinai Hospital’s top neurosurgeons. In addition there were four doctors directly involved with this case that were also qualified as expert witnesses and knew the smaller aneurysm was supposed to be clipped but Preston J. Douglas didn’t depose any of them. They were the other two surgeons, the radiologist and the neuropathologist.
In light of Mr. Douglas’ failure to read the medical records and failure to depose key witnesses, I wasted $2,000. on Mr. Douglas’ unnecessary expert witness. In addition, due to Mr. Douglas’ gross negligence and incompetence in handling this lawsuit, my son and I never received a penny of restitution in one of the most horrible cases of medical malpractice on record. Furthermore, a horrendous injustice was perpetrated as Dr. Hollin and his associates got away with their malicious medical activities scot-free. Therefore I do not recommend the professional services of Preston J. Douglas under any circumstances whatsoever.
I have two websites setup which discuss this case in detail complete with medical records and legal documents. They are https://drsidneyhollin.com and https://prestonjdouglas.com.