Geraldo Rivera to donate any settlement in malpractice case

Fox News commentator and former talk show host Geraldo Rivera is in the news for a different reason right now.

Rivera, 72, appeared last week in Manhattan’s Civil Court for settlement negotiations in medical-malpractice litigation he filed over a surgery done on his back in 2010. He alleges the surgery performed at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery located on East 70th Street left him with his right foot crippled.

“I can’t jog anymore. I can’t play tennis, ski,” Rivera told the New York Post. he also claims that it is now difficult for him to keep up with his 10-year-old daughter.

An attorney for the hospital counters that Rivera was responsible for his own injury because while he was in rehabilitation, he kicked the door of a refrigerator in his hospital room.

Despite the allegations of the defense, Rivera remains hopeful that the hospital will agree to a settlement. He promised to donate 100 percent of any settlement to charity, specifying the Social Work School at the College of Staten Island as the recipient of any forthcoming windfall.

It is easy for a wealthy man like Rivera to make such a generous donation. However, in most malpractice cases, the plaintiff is suing because he or she has mountains of hospital bills as well as life-altering problems stemming from a medical practitioner’s negligence.

Surgical errors, failing to diagnose a condition and causing a medical condition to worsen are all examples of mistakes that can lead to a medical malpractice claim being filed against a practitioner or medical facility. If you have suffered injuries at the hands of a medical provider, you may be entitled to financial compensation.

Source: New York Post, “Geraldo Rivera looking to settle medical malpractice suit,” Julia Marsh, July 24, 2015