Report: Parents File Lawsuit Against Phelps Memorial Hospital

SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. – The parents of a 19-year-old woman, now in a vegetative state after a routine endoscopy in January, have filed a lawsuit against Phelps Memorial Hospital saying doctors were careless and negligent, The New York Daily News reported.

The parents of a 19-year-old woman, now in a vegetative state after a routine endoscopy in January, have filed a lawsuit against Phelps Memorial Hospital saying doctors were careless and negligent, The New York Daily News reported.
Photo Credit: *File Photo*

by Meredith Shamburger

05/03/2013 11:30 a.m.

Rockland Community College student Raina Ferrara had been suffering from stomach discomfort when she underwent an endoscopy at the Sleepy Hollow hospital, the complaint said. Ferrara went into cardiac and respiratory arrest during the operation, leaving her severely brain damaged, according to the lawsuit.

Her parents' lawsuit says doctors failed to property administer anesthesia and monitor vital signs; excessively inflated her abdomen, causing cardiac arrest; and removed a breathing tube prematurely.

“I feel like we’ve walked into the ‘Twilight Zone,’ ” the teen’s father told the Daily News. “They stole my daughter from me.”

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