Medical malpractice lawsuits have cost NYC $134M this year

New York City has doled out $134 million this year for medical mishaps at its 11 public hospitals, some during child birth and others resulting in permanent disabilities. And taxpayers are picking up the tab—more than half a billion dollars in the last four fiscal years alone, city records show. The horrors are spelled out in court documents, including a case at Queens Hospital Center where a baby suffered a skull fracture and his heart rate dipped and rose wildly during birth. Another Queens hospital missed a life-threatening brain hemorrhage. A Bronx hospital, court records show, lacked the appropriate equipment to immediately resuscitate a baby who as a teen can barely speak.