The family of deceased 70-year-old Genci Frasheri, of Whitestone, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, seeking $20 million in damages.
Frasheri was struck by a car in Murray Hill on Nov. 14, and after suffering a fractured skull, he was falsely arrested by the NYPD for assaulting an EMT and died three days later shackled to a hospital bed as a result of the delay in medical treatment, the lawsuit alleges.
“Had he been treated with the urgency and care required given his medical condition at that time, he could have pulled through,” Genci’s daughter Enika Sopiqoti said Dec. 14 at the offices of their attorney Sanford Rubenstein.
Frasheri was hit by a car driven by a Massachusetts man as he crossed 158th Street at the intersection on Northern Boulevard. As he lay in the roadway, a responding EMT and police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing failed to consider the victim’s flailing of his hands and legs as a sign of brain trauma. After the EMT was struck with a closed fist, she failed to render proper medical care and instead told police she had been assaulted, according to court documents.
“The obligation of emergency medical workers is to save the lives of victims, not to first fail to recognize the symptoms of a serious brain injury and act in a manner which delayed medical treatment which we allege contributed to this wrongful death,” Rubenstein said.
According to the police report of the incident, after EMT Josephine Ramirez, 58, was punched in the side of her face with a closed fist, she demanded that police arrest Frasheri for assault and refused to treat him further and the victim was forced to wait more than 50 minutes for an FDNY ambulance to arrive and transport him to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital.
“He’s flailing his legs, arms, which are all conditions which occur when one has a brain injury, which is what he had,” Rubenstein said. “And instead of immediately taking him to the hospital, they had him charged with assault, charged with a crime while he’s laying there on the floor with a fractured skull.”
According to court filings, Frasheri was chained to his hospital bed, and his wife of 50 years, Arjana, and his daughter and son were restricted in their ability to visit him and communicate with his physicians in order to provide consent for medical treatment. Frasheri succumbed to his injuries on Nov. 17.
QNS reached out to the mayor’s office and is awaiting a response.
According to Rubenstein, the New York State Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation into his death.
“Every second counts in a medical emergency,” Rubenstein said. “He had a fractured skull and bleeding in his brain and slipped into a coma before perishing three days later. The AG is investigating the incident and I think the EMT should be charged criminally for her malfeasance.”
