The family of a Bronx mom who tragically died on a Monterfiore Medical Center operating table while trying to donate a kidney to her beloved brother reached a unusually quick legal settlement with the hospital today.
The amount of money that 41-year-old Yolanda Medina’s three young daughters and her still-ailing brother Roberto Medina will receive from Montefiore under the deal is “confidential,” according to Roberto’s lawyer, Ben Rubinowitz.
“I’m glad that this is resolved,” Rubinowitz said. “The stress that this family has been under has been inordinate.”
Roberto Medina said, “We’re very happy with what transpired today,” but added, “No money can bring back our sister.”
“We’re still feeling that pain like it was yesterday,” said Roberto, noting that Yolanda’s three girls are “still missing their mom, asking for their mom every day.”
The settlement comes just four months after Yolanda bled to death when her aorta was accidentally cut while undergoing kidney donor surgery at Montefiore.
Her death was the first ever in four decades in the live-donor program at the Bronx hospital, which suspended that program as a result.
Weeks afterward, Montefiore reached out to Bronx Supreme Court Chief Administrative Judge Douglas McKeon to ask for a fast-track resolution that would avoid Medina’s family having to file a lawsuit that could take years to wind its way toward trial, and with an uncertain outcome.
After Medina’s family agreed to the program, McKeon oversaw settlement talks over the past several months — and a deal was agreed upon yesterday.
“Without Judge McKeon’s efforts, I can tell you this is the kind of case that would have dragged on for years,” said Rubinowitz, Roberto’s lawyer.
McKeon himself told The Post that the fast-track resolution program used in this case is “a good model for how certain kinds of malpractice cases should be handled.”
“This is a real-life example of how this program touched the lives of people,” McKeon said.
A Montefiore spokeswoman said the hospital is “grateful for the efforts of Judge McKeon, who was instrumental in helping all of the parties work together to reach a fair and timely agreement.”
“Our thoughts continue to be with the family during this difficult time,” the spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, Roberto is still awaiting a kidney.