Medical Source, Inc., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 09-053-17)
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss. SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION No. 2016-1853 BLS 1 MEDICAL SOURCE, INC. et al vs. PERKINELMER HEALTH SCIENCES, INC. ORDER ON MOTIONS REGARDING DISCOVERY FROM A NON-PARTY In this commercial dispute regarding a product sold by PerkinElmer to plaintiffs, discovery is sought by plaintiffs from a non-party, Virscidian, Inc. Plaintiffs move for the issuance of a letter rogatory to compel the production of documents from, and the appearance for deposition of, Virscidian, a company located in North Carolina (Paper No. 36). In response, Virscidian moves for a protective order to limit the scope of discovery and to require that plaintiffs bear the cost of the review and production of responsive documents (Paper No. 37). At the hearing of these motions on November 8, 2017, I asked the parties to confer, again, to limit the areas of dispute. I pointed out that plaintiffs are entitled to some discovery as requested but that plaintiffs “must take reasonable steps to avoid imposing undue burden or expense” on Virscidian. See, Mass. R. Civ. P. 45 (b). Pursuant to Rule 45 (b), I indicated that denial of Virscidian’s motion for protective order would be conditioned “upon the advancement [by plaintiffs] of the reasonable cost of producing the documents . . . .” Id. I then ordered the parties to submit a chart showing plaintiffs’ revised requests for documents, Virscidian’s objections, and Verscidian’s estimate of the cost of responding to the narrowed requests. The 1 requested chart was filed on November 20, 2017, as a Joint Supplemental Submission (Paper No. 43), . Plaintiffs allege that PerkinElmer’s Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (“TOF”), as purchased by them, is defective. Virscidian developed a software component of the TOF called “Solo.” Plaintiffs believe that Virscidian is in possession of documents that directly relate to alleged flaws in the software component. Plaintiffs allege that the software issues are “at the heart of” the defective TOFs. Plaintiffs requested approval of a subpoena for the production of documents from Virscidian responsive to 14 enumerated requests. In addition, plaintiffs requested approval of a subpoena to Virscidian to produce a witness, designated by the corporation, to testify as to 18 described subject areas. Virscidian’s motion for a protective order, supported by an affidavit from its founder and CEO, Joseph D. Simpkins, points out that Virscidian is a small company with only four, fulltime, employees in addition to Mr. Simpkins. Mr. Simpkins estimates that it would take his employees approximately 600 hours to find, review and produce documents responsive to the requests. Such an effort would substantially interfere with Virscidian’s ongoing business. “Even if we outsourced the project, I would still need to be substantially involved to oversee capture of the .pst files, […]
Walker, et al. v. Boston Medical Center Corp., et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 12-081-17)
1 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS SUFFOLK, ss SUPERIOR COURT CIVIL ACTION 2015-01733-BLS1 KAMYRA WALKER and another,1 1 Anne O’ Rourke 2 MDF Transcription, LLC and Richard J. Fagan. on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated vs. BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORP. and others 2 MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON DEFENDANT BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORP.’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT In March 2014, defendant Boston Medical Center, Corp. (BMC) learned that another health care provider had inadvertently accessed a BMC patient’s medical information on a website maintained by defendant MDF Transcriptions, LLC (MDF), a medical transcription company used by both BMC and thisother provider. It sent a letter to all its patients who had records that had been transcribed by MDF informingthem that there might have been unauthorized access to their medical information. After receiving this letter, the plaintiffs Kamyra Walker and Anne O’Rourke,filedthisputative classaction against BMC, MDF, and Richard Fagan, MDF’s owner and manager. They assertthat the defendants are liableto them, and all other similarly situated BMC patients,for failing to ensure that their medical information was kept confidential. The case is before the court on BMC’smotionfor summary judgment. BMCargues, among other things, that the plaintiffs lack standing to maintain the claims asserted2 against it.3 For the reasons that follow, the motion isALLOWED. 3 BMC also argues that the complaint fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted. Having found that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring their claims, the court does not reach this issue. 4 “FTP, or file transfer protocol, is a protocol for exchanging files over any computer network that supports the TCP/IP protocol (such as the Internet or an intranet). SRI Int’l Inc. v. Internet Sec. Sys., 647 F. Supp. 2d 323, 332 n.2 (D. Del. 2009). 5 Plaintiffs note that JosephCumillus, BMC’s 30(b)(6) deponent, stated in his deposition: “it was concerning to me that this information was on an FTP site that wasn’t password protected.” The court understands this to refer BACKGROUND For several years, certain BMC medical practices used MDF to transcribe their physicians’ audio recordedpatientnotes. The transcriptions were available through a “file transfer protocol” (FTP or .ftp) site maintained by MDF.4 On March 4, 2014, Pam Bronson of Access Sports Medicine(ASM), anotherMDF customer, telephoned BMC. She informed BMC that she saw a BMC transcription record when she accessed MDF’s transcription portalusing her ASM user name and password. In response, BMC contacted MDF,and MDF took down the FTP site. Shortly thereafter, BMC terminated its relationship with MDF and notified patients, including the plaintiffs, of what had occurred. The notification letter sent to the plaintiffs informed them that their patient records from office visits with physicians “were inadvertently made accessible to […]
Doe, et al. v. Boston Medical Center Corporation (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-133-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us 13-P-1998 Appeals Court JANE DOE & another[1] vs. BOSTON MEDICAL CENTER CORPORATION. No. 13-P-1998. Suffolk. May 6, 2015. – September 9, 2015. Present: Rubin, Brown, & Maldonado, JJ. Practice, Civil, Summary judgment. Negligence, Hospital, Duty to prevent harm, Foreseeability of harm. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on March 2, 2011. The case was heard by Heidi E. Brieger, J., on a motion for summary judgment. Matthew W. Perkins for the plaintiffs. Joseph A. King (Kevin M. Sullivan with him) for the defendant. BROWN, J. The plaintiffs, Jane and John Doe, filed an amended complaint for negligent supervision and loss of consortium, arising out of an assault on Jane by Boston Medical Center Corporation (hospital) interpreter Thomas Consoli. A Superior Court judge entered summary judgment in favor of the hospital. The plaintiffs appeal. We reverse. 1. Background. We summarize the relevant facts from the record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Foster v. Group Health Inc., 444 Mass. 668, 672 (2005). The facts as written are undisputed. In 2004, after obtaining a Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) report from the Criminal History Systems Board, indicating no prior criminal convictions, the hospital hired Consoli as an interpreter. Shortly after being hired Consoli was oriented and informed of the hospital’s policies. One such policy was that as an interpreter, Consoli was never to touch or be alone with any patients. This policy was self-regulated by Consoli, that is, the only person to insure that Consoli was never alone with a patient was himself. On March 31, 2008, Jane, a Spanish-speaking immigrant from Guatemala who understands minimal English and has no formal education, was admitted to the hospital in connection with the impending labor and delivery of her first child. She was directed to a room and changed into a hospital gown. At or shortly after 3:05 P.M. Consoli entered Jane’s hospital room and translated between Jane and Jane’s doctor and nurse. After speaking with Jane, Consoli and the medical team went out of the room, leaving her door open. Consoli told the nurse that he was going to another assignment in triage, but when she departed, he remained outside Jane’s room. Soon after, Consoli reentered Jane’s room, alone, and asked Jane where she felt pain. He told her that he […]
Roe No. 1, et al. v. Children’s Hospital Medical Center, et al. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-164-14)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11533 ROBERT ROE No. 1 & others[1] vs. CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER & others.[2] Suffolk. April 8, 2014. – October 1, 2014. Present: Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Gants, Duffly, & Lenk, JJ. Child Abuse. Negligence, Hospital, Employer, Duty to prevent harm. Practice, Civil, Complaint, Amendment of complaint, Dismissal. Civil action commenced in the Superior Court Department on March 28, 2011. A motion to dismiss was heard by Merita A. Hopkins, J. The Supreme Judicial Court granted an application for direct appellate review. Mark F. Itzkowitz (Carmen L. Durso with him) for the plaintiffs. Gail M. Ryan (John P. Ryan with her) for Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The following submitted briefs for amici curiae: John J. Barter for Professional Liability Foundation, Ltd. Darrell L. Heckman, of Ohio, & Ninamary Buba Maginnis, of Kentucky, for National Center for Victims of Crime. J. Michael Conley, Jeffrey S. Beeler, Thomas R. Murphy, & Kimberly A. Alley for Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. CORDY, J. This case requires us to decide whether a Massachusetts hospital employer owes a legally cognizable duty of care to future patients of a doctor who has left the hospital’s employ and resumed practicing medicine in the employ of a different hospital in another State. We conclude that such a duty is not cognizable in the circumstances presented here, where the hospital does not have the type of special relationship either with its former employee, or with any of his prospective patients, that would create such a duty. Consequently, we affirm the judgment entered in the Superior Court dismissing the complaint for failing to state a claim on which relief may be granted. 1. Background. We recite the relevant facts as drawn from the plaintiffs’ complaint, which we assume to be true for the purposes of our review. Nader v. Citron, 372 Mass. 96, 98 (1977). The defendant, Children’s Hospital Medical Center (Children’s Hospital), is a fully licensed hospital located in Boston. In 1966 it hired Melvin Levine as a pediatric physician. Levine held that position until leaving Children’s Hospital’s employ in 1985.[3] On leaving Children’s Hospital, Levine relocated to North Carolina, where he obtained a license to practice medicine and became employed as a pediatrician at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine (UNC). Twenty-four years later, in 2009, amid […]
Police: Couple Charged with Drug Distribution at Boston Medical Center
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate conviction. Boston Police Officers responded to a report of drug related issues in the adult emergency room at Boston Medical Cente South End Patch News
Police: Holbrook Man Charged with Several Warrants at Boston Medical Center
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. Boston Police were on a routine patrol of the Menino Building at 840 Harrison Avenue at about 6:25 p.m. on June 30 when an South End Patch News
Police: Woman Arrested on Drug Charge at Boston Medical Center
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. A resident of the Pine Street Inn was arrested on Monday night on drug charges, according to police. Boston Medical Center Department of Public Safety Special State Police Officers responded to narcotics activity at the entrance of 850 Harrison Avenue at about 11 a.m. on June 10. Through a security camera, officers allegedly observed a woman hand $ 10 to a person, who handed her an orange pill. The woman then put the pill in a small orange pill bottle. Officers stopped the woman and searched her. According to police, they found her in possession of Suboxone pill. Officers also found a black folding knife with a blade longer than three inches, they said. Luis Baez of 444 Harrison Avenue was arrested and charged with possession of a Class B substance. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Police: Heroin Overdose Leads to Drug Arrest at Boston Medical Center
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. Boston Police arrested a homeless man at Boston Medical Center on drug charges on Friday after a woman he was with requested medical attention. Polie said they received a call for a medical emergency at 830 Harrison Ave at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, May 31st. When police arrived, they reported seeing three men in the waiting room who were reportedly worried about the wellbeing of a woman who may have overdosed on heroin. Upon interviewing the men, police said they determined they had come to Boston Medical Center to inject heroin. The woman reportedly felt sick after injecting and needed medical attention. Upon a search of the men’s backpacks, police found found two hypodermic needles and a tourniquet. In a side pocket, officers found 23.5 white pills identified as Seroquel. According to the police report, this address is known as an area where heavy drug usage and dealings take place. Boston Police arrested Michael Cardin of 794 Massachusetts Ave., the Woods-Mullen Shelter, and charged him with possession of a Class E substance with intent to distribute. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Woman Charged with Drug Possession at Boston Medical Center
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. A Boston woman was arrested and charged with drug possession at the Boston Medical Center campus over the weekend after allegedly tresspassing and giving police a fake name. Police responded to Boston Medical Center at 3 a.m. on Sunday for a report of a person doing drugs at 840 Harrison Ave. When police arrived, they reportedly found multiple syringes in the area. Police interviewed a woman they suspected to be involved, who said she had no medical reason to be at Boston Medical Center, police said. During the interview, the woman allegedly gave a fake name to police. The woman, Loralie Fuller, of 39 Boylston St., was arrested and charged with tresspassing. During a search, officers reportedly found an unmarked pill bottle with dozens of Ibuprofen 800mg pills. When asked where she got these, Fuller told police, “I got them from a friend. They aren’t mine,” according to the report. Using Fuller’s real name, police learned that she had two outstanding default warrants out of Boston District Court for drug possession charges, and another warrant out of Fitchburg District Court for shoplifting. Fuller was charged with trespassing and possession of a Class E substance. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Doctor Recalls Chaotic Scene in Medical Tent After Blasts
Dr. Martin Levine was standing outside a medical tent on Boylston Street Monday afternoon, a half-block from the finish line, when he felt the violent force of the first blast. “Make way! We’re going to have casualties … we need room,” Levine yelled into the medical tent filled with hundreds of runners. The 62-year-old New Jersey resident had taken the day off from his sports and family medical practice in Bayonne, as he has done every year for the last 19 years, to work the finish line at the Boston Marathon. He usually spent the day tending to sprained ankles, knee pain, shin splints and other common distance running injuries. But this year would be different. As the first explosion hit, Levine saw the plume of smoke rise from the crowd at the finish line and said he knew instantly that at least 35 to 40 people were injured. Levine began running toward the injured as the second bomb went off and kept running. He thought there might be a third explosion, but he couldn’t stop. “There’s no discussion. That’s what you have to do, you don’t stop,” he said. He arrived in the area of the first explosion and found a chaotic, gruesome scene: blood covered the street, people’s clothes and skin were still smoking and burnt. Many had lost limbs in the blasts — one man had lost both his legs from his thighs down. At one point, while applying pressure to one of the injured’s wounds to stop the bleeding, he looked down and saw a foot on the ground. “The smell and visual was extreme,” Levine said. But amid the chaos, he saw hundreds of emergency service workers, police, firefighters and first responders, along with ordinary citizens, working together to help the victims, Levine said. Using wheelchairs, backboards and gurneys, they managed to transport the injured back to the medical tent. Patients were given fluids and IVs. Levine and other physicians asked people for their belts and used them as tourniquets in a pinch. “We don’t do this kind of work,” Levine said, “no one does this kind of work unless you’re in war.” “Hopefully we were able to save lives.” South End Patch