Lawsuit: Botched Diagnosis Led to 30-Year-Old New York Teacher's Brain Hemorrhage Death

Legal Events

Doctors at a Long Island hospital failed to properly diagnose a 30-year-old Queens teacher's head pain in the days leading up to her death from a brain hemorrhage, a lawsuit alleges.

Melissa Fudge, who taught at PS 16 in Corona, died a year ago tomorrow. She had a history of ulcerative colitis when she was admitted to Long Island Jewish/Plainview Hospital in November 2008 complaining of vomiting and gastrointestinal pain accompanied by a searing headache and shooting pain in her left eye.

Doctors treated her for colitis, but her head pain continued, said her lawyer, Gerard Lucciola.

"They kept giving her transfusions and couldn't understand where all the blood was going," said her husband, Roger Fudge Jr. "They got tunnel-visioned on the colitis."

And, he said, the tragedy had far-reaching effects.

"It wasn't only me; it was my family, her family — her students, too," he said.

The suit, filed last week in Queens Supreme Court, seeks unspecified damages from the hospital and three doctors.

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USCIS Adjusting Premium Processing Fee

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced today it is adjusting the premium processing fee for Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers beginning on Oct. 1, 2018 to more effectively adjudicate petitions and maintain effective service to petitioners.

The premium processing fee will increase to $1,410, a 14.92 percent increase (after rounding) from the current fee of $1,225. This increase, which is done in accordance with the Immigration and Nationality Act, represents the percentage change in inflation since the fee was last increased in 2010 based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers.

“Because premium processing fees have not been adjusted since 2010, our ability to improve the adjudications and service processes for all petitioners has been hindered as we’ve experienced significantly higher demand for immigration benefits. Ultimately, adjusting the premium processing fee will allow us to continue making necessary investments in staff and technology to administer various immigration benefit requests more effectively and efficiently,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Moore. “USCIS will continue adjudicating all petitions on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards required under applicable law, policies, and regulations.”

Premium processing is an optional service that is currently authorized for certain petitioners filing Forms I-129 or I-140. The system allows petitioners to request 15-day processing of certain employment-based immigration benefit requests if they pay an extra fee. The premium processing fee is paid in addition to the base filing fee and any other applicable fees, which cannot be waived.

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