Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald represented a child with autism, hereinafter referred to as "Plaintiff," in this autism lawsuit.   Plaintiff was born on 10/2/1991 by vaginal delivery following a normal full-term twin pregnancy.  Plaintiff became a patient of The New York Methodist Hospital from his birth until he was around 3 years old.

Up until about 15 months of age, the Plaintiff attained all developmental milestones in an age-appropriate fashion.  At about 18 months of age, the Plaintiff's mother noticed that the Plaintiff had started to speak and eat less.  The Plaintiff's mother also observed Plaintiff’s increasing hand-to-mouth activities.  She reported all her concerns to the pediatric staff at New York Methodist Hospital during routine visits.  However, no blood-lead test was performed.  No questions were asked about the Plaintiff’s living conditions and no advice was given to the Plaintiff’s mother regarding house keeping methods or the Plaintiff’s diet.  

At about 22 months of age, the Plaintiff was diagnosed to have an elevated blood lead level (BPb) as high as 51 ug/dl. The next month, his BPb increased to 81 ug/dl.  Plaintiff was admitted to New York Methodist Hospital for Chelation with the oral chelation agent, Chemet.  Subsequent inspections by Department of Health recorded lead based paint violations from Plaintiff’s then residence.  Plaintiff had elevated blood lead level for a period of 2 years.

Plaintiff’s severe disease of childhood lead poisoning had led to significant regression in milestones.  At about 25 months of age, Plaintiff’s language stopped developing and by the age of 29-30 months he began to lose language ability.  At 11 years of age, an autism evaluation revealed that the Plaintiff had a 20 month age equivalent competency in communication skills; a 3 year and 8 month age equivalent competency in daily living skills; a 17-month age equivalent competency in socialization; and a 5 year and 5-month age equivalent competency in motor skills.  He was eventually diagnosed as having autism.

The minimum standard in New York for the care, treatment and prevention of infant lead poisoning includes affirmative duties [1] to perform timely risk assessments; [2] to screen infant patients for lead poisoning on a timely basis; and [3] to render anticipatory guidance to the parents of children aged from 6 months to 6 years concerning the hazards of infant lead poisoning and how to avoid the same.

Fitzgerald & Fitzgerald argued that New York Methodist Hospital, its agents and employees, departed from generally good and accepted medical practice by: (1) failing to meet the minimum standards for the care, treatment and prevention of lead poisoning while rendering pediatric care to Plaintiff; (2) failing to perform a blood-lead test on the Plaintiff when he was 6 months of age; (3) failing to perform a blood lead test in the face of the mother’s complaints of Plaintiff’s incessant hand-to-mouth activities; (4) failing to provide anticipatory guidance; and (5) failing to take an environmental history with respect to Plaintiff.  As a result, the Plaintiff suffered severe and permanent injuries, including lead-paint-associated autism and related problems, including pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) and sever behavioral problems.