Nicastro v. Park

Alexander Nicastro was hospitalized twice due to chest pains. The first time, in May 1976, Dr. Fred Park and Dr. Richard Mermelstein (defendants) treated Alexander. The second time, in February 1977, Park treated Alexander. Alexander died at age 35 in July 1977 of a coronary thrombosis. Dorothy Nicastro (plaintiff), the administratrix of Alexander’s estate, sued Park and Mermelstein for malpractice. The trial evidence showed that (1) Mermelstein misdiagnosed Alexander as suffering from a virally induced condition despite test results that only inconclusively (at best) pointed to a virus and despite the absence of symptoms that normally accompanied the viral condition; (2) during Alexander’s first hospitalization, Park did not follow up on test results suggesting that Alexander was developing a cardiac infarction and did not counsel Alexander, who was a heavy smoker and coffee drinker and whose work involved physical labor, to modify his lifestyle; and (3) during Alexander’s second hospitalization, Park did not order appropriate tests and apparently discharged Alexander without adequate treatment. On the other hand, Park and Mermelstein’s expert witnesses testified that the doctors complied with accepted medical-community medical standards but also conceded that Alexander’s test results were inconclusive, that further testing would have been helpful, and that Alexander did not seem to have been treated for a coronary problem. The jury found that Park and Mermelstein were not negligent. Pursuant to Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) § 4404(a), Dorothy moved to set aside the jury’s verdict as being against the weight of the evidence and for a new trial. The supreme court granted Dorothy’s motion. Park and Mermelstein appealed.