Posted on Jan 26, 2006 | Newsday
Patient's Death Prompts Lawsuit
Wife of man who died in 2003 alleges his doctor prescribed medication without running proper tests
BY CYNTHIA DANIELS
STAFF WRITER
It was a quick parking-lot meeting, like the kind between old friends, that allegedly proved deadly for Herbert O'Rourke.
The 67-year-old Huntington man died from cardiorespiratory arrest on Nov. 14, 2003 . One week after he ran into his primary care physician in the office parking lot, he complained about chest pain and received a prescription for Nitrostat without stepping foot in the office, his wife said.
The physician, Dr. Hachiro Nakamura, then failed to document the Nov. 7 meeting on O'Rourke's death certificate, which prompted O'Rourke's wife, Norma, to allege medical malpractice and file a Wrongful Death lawsuit against her husband's 20-year physician.
"If somebody did wrong, they should be responsible for what they did," Norma O'Rourke said.
The lawsuit, filed in November in State Supreme Court in Riverhead, alleges that Nakamura and the North Shore Medical Group failed to "perform tests" on Herbert O'Rourke, improperly treated, handled and cared for him, and prescribed medication "without conducting appropriate tests."
Lucia Lee, a spokeswoman for The Mount Sinai Hospital, of which the North Shore Medical Group is an affiliate, said it is hospital policy not to comment on cases under litigation.
Carol Schlitt, Norma O'Rourke's attorney, said she reported Nakamura's alleged misconduct to the state Department of Health earlier this week.
Joe DiMura, spokesman for the state Health Department, said he cannot discuss whether the department is investigating a physician, but said there were no previous disciplinary actions against Nakamura.
However, Schlitt alleges, Nakamura's decisions on Nov. 7 had devastating effects.
Although Herbert O'Rourke had diabetes, Norma said he often woke at 5:30 a.m. to walk four or five times around nearby Heckscher Pond. So she was concerned when he complained of shortness of breath and chest pains on Nov. 6 after a quick walk to the mailbox.
The next morning, O'Rourke stopped at North Shore Medical Group, on Park Avenue in Huntington, to see Nakamura, who had given O'Rourke a routine checkup on Oct. 21.
Herbert O'Rourke would later tell Norma that Nakamura was off that day but had stopped to pick up the mail when the two ran into each other in the parking lot. Herbert told Norma that he had a follow-up visit in a couple of weeks, she said.
It wasn't until after her husband died at their Huntington home that Norma started piecing together what happened during that meeting.
Schlitt said Nakamura prescribed Nitrostat, a drug that studies advise should be used cautiously in diabetics. He then scheduled a stress test for O'Rourke on Nov. 23.
"The appropriate thing to do was to send to the emergency room or indoors to be examined by another doctor," Schlitt said. "There was nothing about anything that did that displayed any sense of urgency."
Nakamura's actions in the days that followed, the lawsuit said, "inflicted emotional distress upon Norma."
Not only did he not request an autopsy, Schlitt said, but he also lied on the death certificate, writing Oct. 21, 2003 as the last time he saw O'Rourke.
"It's almost like a sense of betrayal," Schlitt said.
"Perhaps my husband would've still died, but maybe if he went to the emergency room, they would've done some tests," Norma O'Rourke said.
With "today's medicine, there's so much out there that can help people. There could've been many years that he could've been here."
If you would like to talk with an experienced wrongful death lawyer to understand and protect your legal rights, please tell us about your wrongful death Case. Our Wrongful Death lawyers have an extensive record in wrongful death cases and will help you evaluate your case.
