CAMPBELL v. NEW YORK CITY HEALTH AND HOSPITALS CORPORATION (2026)

Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Alicia Gerez, J.), entered September 10, 2024, which granted defendant New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the complaint reinstated.

In this medical malpractice action, defendant's surgeons inadvertently lacerated plaintiff's bladder during pelvic surgery.  In opposition to defendant's summary judgment motion, plaintiff submitted an expert affidavit in which the expert opined that the surgeons deviated from the standard of care by not performing a retrograde bladder fill prior to separating the uterus from the adhesions that connected it to the bladder.  The expert further averred that this technique would have expanded the bladder and made its margins more visible during the dissection.  This claim, supported by medical records documenting the presence of significant adhesions throughout plaintiff's pelvis, creates an issue of fact warranting a trial (see Diaz v. New York Downtown Hosp., 99 N.Y.2d 542, 544, 754 N.Y.S.2d 195, 784 N.E.2d 68 [2002];  Cregan v. Sachs, 65 A.D.3d 101, 108–109, 879 N.Y.S.2d 440 [1st Dept 2009] ).  Contrary to defendant's argument, that claim was encompassed by plaintiff's bill of particulars, which alleged improper surgical technique (see DB v. Montefiore Med. Ctr., 162 A.D.3d 478, 478–479, 80 N.Y.S.3d 9 [1st Dept 2018] ).