Dr. Sidney Hollin video is divided into 2 segments. The first segment which runs about 8 minutes explains the general background of my wife Phyllis’ medical condition. The second segment which runs about 33 minutes reviews in detail the medical records that were filed by Dr. Hollin and other medical personnel that were involved with her treatment. Below the video is the original write-up that was prepared for this website.
The medical records can be reviewed at any time by clicking on the 3-dot drop down Menu at the top of the website. If you click on a link in the drop down menu the document will open up in a new window. Active links to the medical records in the write-up also open up in a new window. The documents are in pdf format so you will need Adobe Reader loaded on your computer to read them.
Corrections to the video:
1) In the part where I discuss Dr. Klein’s report being the only one on record for 7 months until Dr. Hollin filed his report on 9/29/76, the correct date of Dr. Klein’s report is 2/6/76 and not 9/6/76 as I mentioned.
2) I state that the cover sheet that Dr. Hollin sent to the life insurance company was not available for review. That is incorrect. That document can be viewed via the 3-dot menu in the upper right corner of the website.
3) I mention the Hospital Association sending out notices regarding stroke symptoms. It is the Heart Association that does this.
This article is about Dr. Sidney A. Hollin, a highly respected Neurosurgeon who died in 1984. Dr. Hollin worked out of Elmhurst Hospital from 1961 until 1979 and was the Director of the Neurosurgical Service there from 1974 until 1979. He also held an appointment at Mount Sinai Hospital School of Medicine from 1966 until his retirement in 1983. The hospitals mentioned in this article are located in NYC and the activities described herein refer to events that occurred between 1975 and 1984.
I have in my possession evidence that I am now making public which indicates that Dr. Sidney A. Hollin caused the death of at least one of his patients while operating out of Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC. Dr. Hollin accomplished this in a clinical way by using a surgical procedure and follow up therapy. Since the patient died so many years after the operation, Dr. Hollin’s behind-the-scene activities would not have been discovered but for the fact that he pre-deceased the patient in question. Now I will explain the specific details of the matter.
In October, 1975 Phyllis who was 19 years old at the time (we were married in 1977) was discovered unsreponsive and semi-conscious by her parents. When she came around they took her to see Dr. David Papier the family doctor. Dr. Papier then referred her to Dr. Robert Karlan, a neurologist. Dr. Karlan performed a spinal tap and found blood in her cerebral spinal fluid. He then had her admitted to Booth Memorial Hospital in NYC. Dr. Karlan had 2 cerebral angiograms performed, one that highlighted the arteries on the left side of the brain and one that highlighted the arteries on the right side of her brain. The angiogram of the right side of her brain showed a large berry aneurysm on the right internal carotid artery at the base of her brain. A berry aneurysm is a bubble that usually occurs on major arteries at the base of the brain and rupture of a berry aneurysm in this location is almost always fatal. She was then referred to Dr. Sidney Hollin at Mt. Sinai Hospital in NYC.
Dr. Hollin ordered an angiogram of her right internal carotid artery. The reason this was done is because in about 20-35% of all berry aneurysm cases there is more than one aneurysm on the artery,so Dr. Hollin was looking for additional aneurysms. After the test Dr. Hollin informed her that there was a clear diagnosis of a single aneurysm that could be surgically cured. The surgical procedure he was going to perform was a craniotomy and clipping of the aneurysm. By placing a surgical clip across the neck of the aneurysm it cuts off the flow of blood to the aneurysm and cures the patient. This procedure is still in use today.
On November 12, 1975 Phyllis was presented with an operation consent form that listed the procedure to be performed as ‘craniotomy and clipping of intra cranial aneurysm’. She and her father signed the form and the next day Dr. Sidney Hollin, Dr. M. S. Klein, a Resident Neurosurgeon, and Dr. J. Wancier, an Intern performed the surgery. After the operation Dr. Hollin told the family that it was a complete success and that Phyllis would be able to lead a normal life. She was discharged from the hospital on November 25, 1975.
For the next few years she saw Dr. Sidney Hollin for office check ups and appeared to be fine. On June 10, 1981. Approximately 5.5 years after the surgery, Phyllis went to Dr. Hollin for a check-up to see if it was safe for her to become pregnant. Dr. Hollin gave her an in office neuro exam and told her that it was safe for her to become pregnant. In November, 1982 she gave birth to our son. For the next year and a half she went about her business taking care of our child. On March 18, 1984 all of a sudden she lapsed into a coma due to a massive cerebral hemorrhage and was sent to St. John’s Hospital in Queens where she was put on life support. After calling the immediate family to inform them of the situation, I called Dr. Hollin. As it turns out Dr. Sidney Hollin had just passed away on March 13 so his secretary sent me a copy of his office records. Phyllis then passed away on April 5, 1984.
The records I received were Dr. Hollin’s Report, Dr. Klein’s Report, and Dr. Hollin’s Office Journal. Upon reviewing the reports I was shocked to learn that Phyllis had been diagnosed with two berry aneurysms and not one as we had been told. An attending neurologist also looked at the reports and immediately said he suspected medical malpractice since Dr. Sidney Hollin did not clip one of the aneurysms nor perform an angiogram prior to advising pregnancy. I then contacted a law firm who obtained Phyllis’ hospital records and initiated a medical malpractice lawsuit against Dr. Hollin’s estate. As it turns out the Mt. Sinai Angiogram revealed a second smaller aneurysm further up on the right internal carotid artery. Instead of clipping that aneurysm to cure it, Dr. Hollin wrapped muslin cloth around it. The ramifications of this are explained below.
An independent autopsy was performed at Albert Einstein Medical College in NYC and the stated cause of death was the rupture of a giant berry aneurysm on the right internal carotid artery. As Dr. Haroupian the Albert Einstein Neuropathologist explained it to me, the clip cured the larger aneurysm, it put pressure on the smaller aneurysm, and muslin became part of the arterial wall. Muslin is used to coat and support arteries and is only wrapped around aneurysms that do not have a neck and cannot be clipped. By wrapping the smaller aneurysm with muslin, Dr. Sidney Hollin preserved it and left Phyllis with the aneurysm still on her artery. The muslin controlled the smaller aneurysm for about 5 years but once it became fully incorporated into the arterial wall there was now a single larger berry aneurysm that spanned the distance between the original 2 aneurysms. In other words Dr. Hollin’s operation promoted the growth of the smaller aneurysm so that it turned into a giant berry aneurysm that ruptured and killed Phyllis 8.5 years after the operation.
Following the surgery when Phyllis was in the Intensive Care Unit a Mt. Sinai Hospital Consultant conducted a review of her status with Dr. Sidney Hollin. In his notes The Consultant wrote that both the larger and smaller aneurysms were clipped. Wrapping muslin around a small clippable aneurysm is a willful violation of accepted medical practice whose only purpose is to preserve the aneurysm in order to leave the patient with the ailment. Since Dr. Sidney Hollin had a clear pre-operative diagnosis and was looking at the aneurysms through a microscope while being assisted by two neurosurgeons this cannot possibly have been done by mistake.
‘Craniotomy With Clipping and Wrapping Of Aneurysms Utilizing Microscope Technique’ when applied to two berry aneurysms on the same artery is a neurological time bomb that is designed to make the condition worse and cause the death of the patient years later. Dr. Sidney Hollin had to tell the consultant he clipped the smaller aneurysm since it was apparent from the angiogram that the operation was supposed to be a straightforward double clipping of the aneurysms. If Dr. Hollin had told The Consultant that he wrapped the aneurysm instead of clipping it, an immediate internal investigation into Dr. Hollin’s activities would have ensued.
Dr. Klein filed his report on February 6, 1976 wherein he claims the Mt. Sinai Angiogram showed one aneurysm and that the second aneurysm was discovered during the operation. Dr. Sidney Hollin finally filed his report on September 29, 1976, 10 months after the surgery. While his report is accurate and lists the smaller aneurysm as a pre-operative diagnosis, he does not say why the aneurysm wasn’t clipped. He merely states that it was wrapped in muslin because he felt it could be handled that way. Since Dr. Hollin told The Hospital Consultant that he clipped both aneurysms, we now know why he wrapped muslin around the smaller aneurysm and concealed its existence from Phyllis and her family: so that he could use it as a weapon to cause her death years later.
When Phyllis complained to Dr. Sidney Hollin on June 10, 1981 that she had a weak right eye and neck pains in the region of the surgery, Dr. Hollin knew that the muslin had become fully incorporated into her artery and the growing aneurysm was large, probably leaking blood, and was pushing the clip into her neck. That is when Dr. Hollin told her these symptoms had nothing to do with the surgery and she could become pregnant. Dr. Hollin even wrote the symptoms of the aneurysm down in his office journal. Advising Phyllis that pregnancy was safe could only make the condition much worse due to the increased pressure on the arteries. Furthermore the chance of an aneurysm that large rupturing during the birth itself was extremely high. Had that happened, the family and obstetrician whom had all been reassured by Dr. Hollin that everything was ok would have been completely devastated. Since Dr. Hollin was on call with Dr. Bresnick at the time of the delivery, Dr. Hollin would have shown up to a medical disaster that he personally created.
After the baby was born in November, 1982 I applied for a life insurance policy on Phyllis and the insurance company contacted Dr. Sidney Hollin for further information about her condition. When Dr. Hollin filed his report with them in December, 1982, the second page of his office journal had the words ‘advise ct scan’ after the June 10, 1981 check up (when she was exhibiting symptoms). His original office journal does not say that however and he never prescribed any such test. In order for this to have occurred, Dr. Hollin had to have xeroxed the second page of his office journal, wrote in ‘advise ct scan’, xeroxed it again and sent the altered copy to the insurance company. Had a ct scan been performed in 1981 it would have undoubtedly revealed leakage from the aneurysm and possibly the aneurysm itself. Since Dr. Hollin was falsifying his office records 7 years after the operation, it clearly indicates that he knew the aneurysm was large from 1981 on and that he had no intention of re-operating to save Phyllis’ life.
Dr. Sidney Hollin had the entire Doctor-Patient psychology down to a tee. He consulted with Phyllis’ other doctor’s knowing that they wouldn’t dare question his authority. Dr. Hollin also knew that when one of his patient’s lapsed into a coma he would immediately be called by the family or attending doctors. He would then send the patient back to Mt. Sinai Hospital for further treatment. If the patient subsequently died and an autopsy was performed ‘in the interests of science’, it would have been done at Mt. Sinai Hospital where Dr. Hollin was in control of the situation. Considering the type of medical mind that invented this scenario, it seems likely that Dr. Hollin would have wanted to see the end result of his work: namely how large the aneurysm grew and how much blood splattered on the patient’s brain. therefore, it is fair to assume that Dr. Sidney Hollin would have told the family that it was a new aneurysm that ruptured and killed her and that it had nothing to do with the operation. Since Phyllis had an alleged history of an aneurysm to begin with and died so many years after the surgery, this explanation would have been believable. The family would have probably even thanked Dr. Hollin for all he had done to try and save her.
SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE DOCUMENTS
1) On November 8, 1975 at Booth Memorial Hospital, Phyllis was given a right brachial angiogram that demonstrated a berry aneurysm at the bifurcation of the right internal carotid artery. The neurologist, Dr. Robert Karlan, referred her to Dr. Sidney Hollin at Mount Sinai Hospital.
2) Phyllis was admitted to Mt. Sinai Hospital and on November 11, 1975 was given a right internal carotid angiogram. This demonstrated a large berry aneurysm at the bifurcation of the right internal carotid artery and a small berry aneurysm at the origin of the anterior choroidal artery.
3) On November 12, 1975 Phyllis and her father were given a Permission For Operation and/or Treatment Form to sign. The procedure to be performed is listed as ‘Craniotomy and Clipping of Intracranial Aneurysm’. No mention is made of the smaller aneurysm.
4) On November 13, 1975 Dr. Hollin, Dr. Klein and Dr. Wancier performed the surgery whereby Dr. Hollin wrapped muslin around the smaller aneurysm and clipped the larger one.
5) After the operation on November 13, 1975 a Hospital Consultant reviewed Phyllis’ status with Dr. Hollin and wrote in his notes that both aneurysms were clipped.
6) On November 25, 1975 Phyllis was discharged from Mt. Sinai Hospital after being told by Dr. Hollin that the operation was a success and she was cured.
7) On January 22, 1976 Dr. Klein filed the patient discharge sheet that lists the procedure that was performed as ‘partial craniotomy clipping aneurysm’. Again no mention is made of the smaller aneurysm. If anyone at the hospital looked at the procedure the patient consented to and was then discharged for the 2 records would match
8) On February 6, 1976 Dr. Klein filed his dictated medical report that contains the following false statements and omissions:
a) he states that the Mt. Sinai angiogram showed one aneurysm when it showed two
b) he states that the larger aneurysm was cleared and the smaller aneurysm was discovered during the surgery when it was known about in advance of the operation
c) he left out the last name of the Intern that was assisting them during the surgery
Note: Since the report states that the smaller aneurysm did not appear in the angiogram and was discovered during the operation, the casual reader might infer that the aneurysm did not have a neck and was therefore not clippable. Dr. Klein’s hand written hospital notes however list the smaller aneurysm as a pre- operative diagnosis and they also contain the last names of all three surgeons. Since Dr. Klein had his hospital notes to refer to at the time of the dictation, his report was obviously falsified in order to cover up what the surgeons had done to the patient and to protect the identity of the intern. Since Dr. Hollin did not file his report until 7.5 months later, this left Dr. Klein’s report as the only official record of the surgery during the interim period. Dr. Klein’s hand written notes and The Hospital Consultant’s report were not part of the readily available patient file as those records were filed elsewhere and were only obtained via the microfilms.
Dr. Klein’s medical report is also anatomically incorrect and couldn’t possibly have happened the way he describes it. He states that the larger aneurysm was cleared and the second one was discovered in the supraclinoid region and then wrapped with muslin. Since the surgeons went in through the right frontal part of the head using an operating microscope, they had to have seen the smaller aneurysm first because it was further up on the artery. If they clipped the larger aneurysm without first treating the smaller one, the increased pressure could have ruptured the smaller aneurysm during the operation. Dr. Hollin’s report is procedurally correct as he states the smaller aneurysm was wrapped with muslin and then the larger one was clipped. He also states that he reduced blood pressure during clip application. It should also be noted that wrapping the aneurysm with muslin is a riskier and more time consuming procedure than clipping it. The surgeons spent more time in the operating room than was necessary in order to not cure the patient.
9) On July 19, 1976 at the request of Dr. Hollin, the referring neurologist Dr. Robert Karlan gave Phyllis an EEG, a test of brain waves. This is the only post-surgical diagnostic test that Dr. Hollin ever prescribed.
Note: By involving other doctors in the after care whom are telling the patient everything appears normal, Dr. Hollin is reinforcing in the patient and her family’s mind that everything is ok. It also implies to the patient that other doctors were aware of her true neurological condition. The reality is that doctors like Dr. Karlan only knew what Dr. Hollin told them. As far as the actual test that was prescribed, an EEG at this point in time is useless as far as detecting aneurysms are concerned.
10) On September 29, 1976 Dr. Hollin filed his surgical report but he does not say why the aneurysm wasn’t clipped. He merely states ‘In the supraclinoid region was a small aneurysm which was felt could thus be handled by wrapping with muslin’. Dr. Hollin lists the third surgeon as Dr. Wancier.
Note: By the time this report was filed 10 months after the surgery Phyllis was long forgotten about as far as the hospital was concerned. Since there are so many obvious conflicts in her medical records, it’s apparent that Mt. Sinai Hospital had no real auditing procedures in effect in regards to monitoring the activities of its surgeons.
11) On June 10, 1981 Phyllis saw Dr. Hollin in his office and he wrote in his journal ‘c/o fatigue, neck and RUE discomf, ‘nervous’, rt eye feels weak’. In his own sardonic way Dr. Hollin wrote down the symptoms of a large right internal carotid aneurysm. A weak right eye and pains in the region are classic symptoms of a person who is about to undergo a stroke. After this check up Dr. Hollin knew the aneurysm could rupture at anytime. He also told Phyllis that it was safe for her to become pregnant. Since the aneurysm would obviously be much larger at the end of the pregnancy term, this was an attempt by Dr. Hollin to get the aneurysm to rupture during labor. Fortunately the labor only lasted 2.5 hours.
12) In November, 1982 just prior to the birth, the obstetrician Dr. Phillip Bresnick consulted with Dr. Hollin. Dr. Bresnick was told that Phyllis had a berry aneurysm resected at Mt. Sinai Hospital in 1977, that she was showing no further symptoms from the aneurysm and that it was ok for her to undergo a trial labor. The actual year of the surgery was 1975. By telling Dr. Bresnick the surgery was in 1977, Dr. Hollin implied that the repair of the alleged single aneurysm was 2 years younger than it actually was.
13) On December 13, 1982 Dr. Hollin sent a falsified copy of his office journal to IDS Life Insurance Company. At the end of the June 10, 1981 office visit the words ’advise ct scan’ appear. Since ‘advise ct scan’ does not appear in Dr. Hollin’s original office journal, this means that 1.5 years after the actual check up Dr. Hollin xeroxed his original record, wrote in the words ‘advise ct scan’, xeroxed it again and sent it to the insurance company.
14) On March 14, 1984 Dr. Hollin passed away.
15) On March 18, 1984 Phyllis lapsed into a coma and I called Dr. Hollin from St. John’s Hospital the next day. Dr. Hollin’s secretary informed me that Dr. Hollin had passed away 5 days earlier of cancer at the age of 62. Instead of Dr. Hollin showing up at the hospital, his secretary sent me a copy of Phyllis’ medical records.
16) On May 9, 1984 pathologists at Albert Einstein Medical College completed their autopsy report. The primary cause of death was determined to be the rupture of a giant berry aneurysm on the right internal carotid artery. Dr. Haroupian then explained to me the time bomb effect of Dr. Hollin’s operation.
FINAL SUMMARY
1) Dr. Hollin had a pre-operative diagnosis of two berry aneurysms both of which had to be clipped to cure the patient
2) Dr. Hollin told the patient and her family that she had one berry aneurysm and that it would be clipped and she would be cured
3) Dr. Hollin, Dr. Klein and Dr. Wancier performed the surgery whereby Dr. Hollin wrapped muslin around the smaller aneurysm and clipped the larger one thereby creating a time bomb operation
4)Dr. Hollin told The Hospital Consultant after the surgery that he clipped both aneurysms
5) Dr. Klein filed a falsified discharge sheet that states a single aneurysm was clipped and he does not mention the smaller aneurysm or the wrapping procedure
6) Dr. Klein filed a falsified medical report that states the smaller aneurysm did not show up in the angiogram and was discovered during the operation
7) Dr. Hollin filed his surgical report 10 months after the operation when the patient was completely forgotten about as far as the hospital was concerned
8) Dr. Hollin denied the patient’s symptoms 5.5 years after the operation had anything to do with the surgery and did everything he could to cause the wrapped aneurysm to grow larger
9) Dr. Hollin consulted with the Obstetrician 7 years after the surgery and told him that he resected a single aneurysm and the patient was showing no further symptoms from it
10) Dr. Hollin falsified medical records 7 years after the surgery to make it look like he was providing legitimate therapy
11) And finally, Dr. Hollin was called when the patient lapsed into a coma and died due to a massive cerebral hemorrhage 8.5 years after the operation, but in this case Dr. Hollin was dead and couldn’t complete the cover up
CONCLUSION
The berry aneurysm operation is one of the most common procedures performed by neurosurgeons. It is estimated that somewhere between 1% and 5% of the general population have berry aneurysms. Of those approximately 20-35% have more than one aneurysm with women tending to have multiple aneurysms more often than men. Therefore, when one considers the implications of this patient file combined with the fact that it was only obtained because Dr. Hollin was deceased at the time of my phone call to him, it is logical to conclude that Dr. Hollin time bombed the operation on 20-35% of his berry aneurysm patients and actively pursued his medical career doing so. Since Dr. Hollin figured out a time bomb operation for berry aneurysms in all likelihood he had a time bomb procedure for various other neurological ailments as well.
It’s interesting to note that Dr. Sidney Hollin was never sued for medical ‘malpractice’ while he was alive. Dr. Hollin died of cancer on March 14, 1984 at the age of 62. This means that after medical school his career spanned the years approximately between 1954 and 1983. During that time period it was extremely difficult if not impossible to get doctors to testify against other doctors or to get competent legal counsel involved in this type of case. In any event Dr. Hollin was called when the patient lapsed into a coma years later and that gave him the opportunity to cover his tracks. While the relatives of his deceased patients may have suspected something was wrong, the reality is there was little they could actually do about it. Many families do not want autopsies performed for religious or other rea-sons and without an autopsy report outlining the specific cause of death it is difficult to prove medical malpractice. If in fact an autopsy were performed, it would have been done at Mt. Sinai Hospital under the guidance of Dr. Hollin. Based upon a review of the medical reports that were filed in this case, it appears unlikely that the interested parties would have found out the true cause of death.
In conclusion, it is now apparent that Dr. Hollin had two sets of patients: those whose lives he was going to save and those whose death he was going to cause. Since Dr. Hollin was training Interns at Mt. Sinai Hospital, many of whom may have left to practice at other hospitals, there exists the possibility that this type of activity has been going on unchecked for so long that when a patient is admitted to a hospital for neurosurgery it is uncertain as to whether they will be operated on by normal surgeons or those who practice Dr. Hollin’s particular brand of Megalomaniac Neurosurgery. If the entire matter of Dr. Sidney A. Hollin is ever uncovered, there is no doubt in my mind that he will go down in history. He didn’t use a gun or a knife to cause the death of this patient but he used his operation and therapy.