Newsday
15th Distict: Political scion, lawyer square off
BY CELESTE HADRICK
October 19, 2008
Incumbent Republican Rob Walker, the son of a well-known Hicksville political family, is squaring off against Democratic
political newcomer Stephanie Ovadia, a lawyer and mother of 10, in the race for the 15th Assembly District.
Walker, 33, of Hicksville, was first elected to the Assembly in a May 2005 special election and was re-elected two years ago.
He is the Republican leader of Hicksville West, taking the place of his father, the late John Walker. His mother, Rose, is a
member of the Oyster Bay Town Board.
While politics may be in Walker's blood, he said it was his family's involvement in the community that first brought his parents
into politics, and then brought him.
"I try to be on the phone as much as I possibly can. I have people come to my house constantly. I go to local civic association
meetings, constantly. That's what I like to do," Walker said. As an assemblyman, he added, "That's what you're supposed to do."
Ovadia, 50, of East Meadow, has been practicing law in Nassau for 23 years and runs her own practice on Hempstead
Turnpike.
"I've helped clients navigate the legal system," said Ovadia. "I've protected their rights. One day I woke up and said I want to
be in a position where I can make the laws I've navigated through."
Besides running her own law practice, Ovadia is raising 10 children, ages 20 to 2. Eight are her own; two are the daughters of
her second husband, Craig, a lost love she met again and married a year ago. She said the two were engaged when they were
in college in 1980 at the State University of New York at Binghamton but broke up and went on to marry and divorce other
people.
Despite her career and family responsibilities, Ovadia said she has the time to run.
"Everyone who knows me knows I have a lot of energy," she said. "I have more energy than five people, and I want to use that
energy to help my community."
She quoted a familiar saying: "You ask a busy woman to get something done, and it gets done."
Walker has a leg up in the district, which has 35,325 registered Republican voters compared with 24,218 registered
Democrats. While 18,637 voters are unaffiliated, the district has voted solidly Republican for years.
Ovadia was not fazed by the district's voting history. "People have been very open to change," she said. "They see me. They
want to talk."
Walker, who is also running on the Conservative, Independence and Working Families ballot lines, said he has worked hard to
make his office open and available, "to allow people to have access to government because that's the way government is
supposed to be."
He faces the difficulty of being a Republican in the Democratic-controlled Assembly but says he still has been able to get
things done.
"If you want to get things passed, it's about working together, forming relationships," he said.
He said he has "no pride in authorship. If it's good for New York and it passes, it doesn't matter if I'm the sponsor or the speaker
is. Good bills should become law. It shouldn't matter whose name is on it."
He said he was proud to sponsor a law that provides property tax exemptions to members of the National Guard.
Both Ovadia and Walker cite high taxes and high energy costs as top issues in the district.
For Walker, maintaining the quality of life in the community is also important. He said the development of Nassau Coliseum
and 100 acres of Navy property need to be monitored, "making sure the communities are able to handle whatever is
eventually approved."
For Ovadia, maintaining Long Island's high level of education is key.
She said she also is concerned about the socialization and well-being of children in the school system, and supports programs
to combat bullying and improve nutrition, fitness and protection of the environment.
New York Post
8TH MISHAP ON CONEY I. BOARDWALK
By KIERAN CROWLEY
November 19, 2007
Another person in Coney Island says she's walked the plank - becoming at least the eighth victim to be injured falling through
the boardwalk of Brooklyn's famed but rotting landmark in the past two years. Linda Schoenholz, 64, said she and her husband
were walking on the boardwalk on the morning of Nov. 7 when a rotting board gave way under her feet and her right leg
plunged into the hole, injuring her and trapping her. "All of a sudden - boom! - my leg was swallowed up by the boardwalk,"
Schoenholz said. The retired postal worker received treatment at a hospital for massive bruising to her muscles and her knee.
Her lawyer said she will soon file a notice of claim against the city in preparation for a civil lawsuit. In June, The Post broke
the story of the series of injured boardwalk strollers - and the city's payouts on lawsuits.
New York Post
BLACK DRIVER'S 'BIAS' ORDEAL
By KIERAN CROWLEY
June 20, 2007
State troopers on Long Island pointed a gun to the head of a 19-year-old black Queens man driving his mom's Mercedes, and
threatened to kill him because he was speeding, his lawyer says. "It appears that he was profiled," said Stephanie Ovadia,
lawyer for Ricky Walker, who was pulled over on the Southern State Parkway at 5:10 a.m. on June 6. Ovadia said she would
file a notice of claim on behalf of her client, adding that Walker, who had never been arrested before, was driving to his job at
UPS in Uniondale when a state trooper pulled him over near Eagle Avenue in West Hempstead. The vehicle is owned by his
mother, Kim, a traffic-enforcement officer for the NYPD. "He was threatened with death because police thought he was
speeding," said Ovadia. "This was a complete violation of his civil rights." Walker said the officer called for backup and waited
for at least one other cop to arrive. "He told me to throw the car keys out the window, and I did that. When I saw him in the
rearview mirror, he yelled at me, 'Don't you f- - -ing look at me . . . I'll shoot you in the back of your head.' "I was scared,"
Walker said. "He told me not to move. He said 'You f- - -ing bastard, you move - I'll kill you.' " Walker said the troopers
approached his vehicle with their guns out and pointed at him. "I was looking down the barrel of the gun," he said. Walker said
he was pulled from the Mercedes, handcuffed and placed into the back of a police car while the cops searched the car and
trunk. "They kept asking, 'Where's the weed?' I told them there was no weed. They impounded my mother's car - I don't know
for what reason," Walker said. He added that they released the car the same day, after charging him with reckless driving and
citing him for speeding and failure to signal. He said the cop apologized to him before releasing him. A State Police
spokesman said no complaint had been filed against the officer, but declined to comment further. kieran.crowley@nypost.com
Special to amNewYork
Pol: Pharmacies sell off your data
By Magdalene Perez
June 19, 2007
Randee Lonergan filled prescriptions at the same pharmacy for years. But a month ago, she was shocked to find the pharmacy
closed - and all her family's medical records sold to a nearby Target store in Levittown. Shockingly, her information was sold
legally, due to a loophole in medical privacy law that allows pharmacies to "auction off" years of customer records --
including prescriptions, information about medical conditions, social security numbers and insurance records -- "to the highest
bidder," Senator Charles Schumer said Monday. "I'm outraged," said Lonergan, 34. "I felt that my right to privacy and my right
to choose had been taken away from me." Not only were her records sold, so were her husband's and 8-year-old daughter's.
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers' records may have already been sold, Schumer said, and the problem is nationwide.
Federal law requires doctors to let patients know when their medical history is being shared. But the law explicitly allows
pharmacies to sell patient information to other pharmacies, Schumer said. "It is outrageous that companies can get away with
revealing what prescription medications New Yorkers have taken and not even notify the customer," Schumer said. The
senator is calling on the federal Health and Human Services secretary, Michael Leavitt, to immediately change the law to
require pharmacies to notify patients before selling or transferring their records and allowing patients to opt out. For her part,
Lonergan is not taking the sale of her prescription records lying down. The Levittown resident plans to sue for violation of
privacy and deceptive business practices. "People have a fundamental right to privacy," said Stefanie Ovadia, Lonergan's
attorney. "Bottom line, the loophole needs to be closed." Lonergan placed an order for blood pressure medication at a Stop &
Shop on May 28. A week later she returned to find the pharmacy gone, and was told to pick up the prescription at the Target
next door, she said. When she pulled out her insurance card, a Target employee told her Target had bought her records, and
that all her prescription and insurance information was already in the store's system. A Stop & Shop employee acknowledged
that the information had been sold to Target, but a manager said she was not at liberty to comment. Calls to the corporate
office were not returned. Target released a statement which noted that transferring of prescription records is a "long-standing
industry practice" and that the company complied with all applicable state and federal privacy laws.
New York Post
Chuck: Shut Rx loophole
June 18, 2007
Pharmacies that go out of business can sell their customers' medical records to other drugstores - a legal "oversight" that must
be fixed immediately, Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday. Those records include Social Security numbers and prescription
histories. But Schumer, who said he recently met with Health and Human Services Department officials, thinks the loophole
can be shut as early as next month. "People have a basic trust in their local pharmacy," the New York Democrat said. "I can't
imagine who'd object to this. It was an oversight." The Post reported last week that a going-out-of business Stop and Shop
pharmacy had sold information about Long Islander Randee Lonergan, 34, to a Target store. "[This] issue is going to get
larger," Lonergan's lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia Predicted. Eric Lenkowitz
News 12 Long Island
Levittown woman: Pharmacy sold private records
(06/12/07)
LEVITTOWN - A Levittown woman claims a Stop and Shop pharmacy sold her medical information without prior notification.
Randee Lonergan said when the Levittown supermarket's pharmacy closed, her prescriptions were transferred to the pharmacy
inside a neighboring Target store. Under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, individuals
must be notified and offered to decline their records' transfer. That letter never came, Lonergan said. "I felt very violated that
they gave away all my information," she said. "I should have been given the right to choose where to go." A Stop and Shop
spokesperson said there was a breakdown at the corporate level, and only a few customers did not receive notice. "Customers
are free to transfer to any pharmacy of their choosing," the spokesperson said, insisting that "no state or HIPAA laws were
violated." Stephanie Ovadia, Lonergan's attorney, said her client is considering her legal options.
New York Post
SICK OVER RX
By KIERAN CROWLEY
June 8, 2007
A Long Island mom said she was shocked to find out her local pharmacy had closed and sold her confidential medical
records to another pharmacy without notifying her. Randee Lonergan, 34, of Levittown, said the Stop & Shop Pharmacy in
Bethpage was shut down and a nearby Target had purchased the records. Her lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, said the action
might have violated federal and state laws, and she's considering a lawsuit
New York Post
OLD-TIMER DIES AFTER FALL DOWN CON ED HOLE
By KIERAN CROWLEY and WYNNE PARRY
April 22, 2007
A retired Queens pharmacist died yesterday from injuries he suffered in a freak fall into a 15-foot-deep construction pit at a
Con Ed site in Forest Hills, authorities said. Darryl Kahn, 64, died from head injuries at Jamaica Hospital at 2:45 p.m., a day
after he accidentally tumbled into the pit where Con Ed workers were replacing a transformer, police and officials at the utility
said. Kahn had been returning to his home from a nearby Off-Track Betting parlor at 5:15 p.m. Friday when he approached
the construction site at 70th Road and Queens Boulevard, his family said. Exactly how he fell into the hole was unclear. Con
Ed workers told police they had warned Kahn to stay away from the clearly marked and barricaded construction zone but he
didn't listen. "We don't know why this pedestrian squeezed into the area and how he fell . . . but he was in an area he shouldn't
have been," said Con Ed spokesman Joe Petta. Police sources said it appeared Kahn may have been drunk when he fell. But
Kahn's family insisted that he did not drink and said the site was not well marked. The family attorney says a lawsuit is under
consideration. "To have something like this open when there are a lot of older people in the area is really negligent," said
attorney Stephanie Ovadia-Deodene.
New York Post
'Vampire' & family skip town
May 4, 2007
A 15-year-old girl wanted for "vampire" attacks on Queens schoolmates has fled south with her family, sources said. "They
went south, I heard," said one source, who asked not to be named. He said the landlord is still trying to collect from the former
first-floor tenants of the Richmond Hill building. Neighbors, too, said the family flew the coop. "I felt so bad," said one
woman, who asked that her name not be used. "When they left, they just abandoned their puppy on the street." The neighbor
said she was "not surprised" the teen was accused in the savage attacks. "She isn't a good person," the neighbor said. "She's
troubled. I've seen her slap her brothers and sisters on the street. The whole family is troubled." Kieran Crowley, Lorena
Mongelli
New York Post
VAMPIRE ARREST WARRANT
by KIERAND CROWLEY
May 3, 2006
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the 15-year-old girl accused of bloody "vampire" attacks in Queens, after she
failed to show up for a court date. A lawyer for two of the victims claims her clients have been living in fear, and is demanding
Hillcrest HS and the NYPD protect them. "Where is Vampira?" lawyer Stephanie Ovadia asked. "She is not obeying the court
and is roaming the streets. Where is she - and is she a danger to my clients?" Ovadia said that as soon as she heard there's a
warrant for the teen - a self-styled "goth" ghoul - she immediately alerted her clients' parents, school officials and the police.
The lawyer has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Jamaica school, the city and the girl's parents. The arrest warrant
"doesn't surprise me because she's a dangerous girl," said Daniel Melendez, the dad of victim Michelle Melendez, 16. When
the suspect appeared as a minor in Queens Family Court on charges of assault, gang assault and weapon possession, a judge
issued an order of protection - directing the unnamed biter to stay away from Michelle. In the bloody Dec. 15 assault on
Melendez, the suspect "slashed the victim's face multiple times with a pointed object" and "bit the victim's face and neck,"
said Angela Albertus of the New York City Law Department. But the suspect failed to appear for the next court session and a
judge issued a warrant for her arrest, Albertus said. If the judge finds that the girl committed the attack, she could be placed in
a state facility for up to 18 months, and the sentence could be extended every year until her 18th birthday, Albertus added. In
the lawsuit, Ovadia charges that both sets of concerned parents promptly notified the school - but nothing was done.
Melendez's parents also called police and had the "vampire" teen arrested. But school officials claim that the crimes, which
occurred off school grounds - at a bus stop and on a bus - were not reported for three weeks and that the victims did not
identify their assailant. "That is not true," said Daniel Melendez. "We were at the school to report it the next day, and my
daughter identified the girl who bit her from a book of pictures the school showed her. "And we sent them a doctor's letter
about her injuries - and now they're saying it never happened?" kieran.crowley@nypost.com
New York Post
'MUNCH' BREAK
by TOM LIDDY, KIERAN CROWLEY and DAVID ANDREATTA
May 2, 2006
Another shaken victim of the teen vampire of Queens yesterday told The Post how her fanged attacker ripped a bloody chunk
from her cheek - and that it took a pack of rescuers to pry the crazed student off her. "She got a hold of my left cheek with her
teeth, and I thought she was going to let go, but she stayed on it," said Cynthia LaFortune, 16, of the alleged attack against
her by a seething, "scary looking" classmate on a city bus last December. "That's when a lot of people started pulling her. But
I told them not to, because when they were pulling her, she was pulling my cheek. "She was holding onto my skin for at least
one minute. [Afterward], my friend said, 'Look what she did to your face!'" LaFortune, a pretty varsity basketball player at
Hillcrest HS in Jamaica, is one of at least three students at the school who claim that their 15-year-old assailant - described as
a self-styled "goth" vampire - went for their throats. In court papers suing the school over the series of bizarre bloodlettings,
Lafortune swears under oath that the brooding student "had known vicious propensities." After a minor bumping incident in
the hallway, the vampiress "staked her ... onto the bus," said Lafortune's lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia. After first stabbing
LaFortune with a metal comb, her attacker "locked her jaws [on her] almost like a pit bull. It took five people to pull her off,"
Ovadia said. LaFortune said her face immediately swelled and developed blood clots. "I don't think I could have cried
because my cheek was hurting so badly," she said. She said she eventually told her mom what happened when one of the
friends who helped rescue her on the bus, Michelle Melendez, was attacked by the same girl two days later in retaliation for
going to LaFortune's aid. Melendez filed a report on her own attack with cops, who busted the girl but have not identified her
because of her age. LaFortune said that after her assault, the in-you-face vampire teen called her house to apologize. "I
didn't believe her, but as a Christian, you're supposed to forgive people," LaFortune said. Ovadia has already filed a notice of
claim to sue the city and said she will today file the multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city, the school and the parents of
the alleged vampire. LaFortune said her mom reported the attack promptly to the school but nothing was done. LaFortune
said she personally told a school dean what happened but he "said it didn't take place in the school, so he couldn't do
anything about it." School officials said the incidents were not reported to them until weeks after they occurred. And "when
they did, they did not say anything about having been bitten and did not name the attacker," said Board of Education
spokewoman Marge Feinberg. "That's not true," said Daniel Melendez, Michelle's dad. He said the family reported her
assault to the school and police the day after her Dec. 15 attack - and that his daughter identified the assailant in a student ID
photo. kieran.crowley@nypost.com
15th Distict: Political scion, lawyer square off
BY CELESTE HADRICK
October 19, 2008
Incumbent Republican Rob Walker, the son of a well-known Hicksville political family, is squaring off against Democratic
political newcomer Stephanie Ovadia, a lawyer and mother of 10, in the race for the 15th Assembly District.
Walker, 33, of Hicksville, was first elected to the Assembly in a May 2005 special election and was re-elected two years ago.
He is the Republican leader of Hicksville West, taking the place of his father, the late John Walker. His mother, Rose, is a
member of the Oyster Bay Town Board.
While politics may be in Walker's blood, he said it was his family's involvement in the community that first brought his parents
into politics, and then brought him.
"I try to be on the phone as much as I possibly can. I have people come to my house constantly. I go to local civic association
meetings, constantly. That's what I like to do," Walker said. As an assemblyman, he added, "That's what you're supposed to do."
Ovadia, 50, of East Meadow, has been practicing law in Nassau for 23 years and runs her own practice on Hempstead
Turnpike.
"I've helped clients navigate the legal system," said Ovadia. "I've protected their rights. One day I woke up and said I want to
be in a position where I can make the laws I've navigated through."
Besides running her own law practice, Ovadia is raising 10 children, ages 20 to 2. Eight are her own; two are the daughters of
her second husband, Craig, a lost love she met again and married a year ago. She said the two were engaged when they were
in college in 1980 at the State University of New York at Binghamton but broke up and went on to marry and divorce other
people.
Despite her career and family responsibilities, Ovadia said she has the time to run.
"Everyone who knows me knows I have a lot of energy," she said. "I have more energy than five people, and I want to use that
energy to help my community."
She quoted a familiar saying: "You ask a busy woman to get something done, and it gets done."
Walker has a leg up in the district, which has 35,325 registered Republican voters compared with 24,218 registered
Democrats. While 18,637 voters are unaffiliated, the district has voted solidly Republican for years.
Ovadia was not fazed by the district's voting history. "People have been very open to change," she said. "They see me. They
want to talk."
Walker, who is also running on the Conservative, Independence and Working Families ballot lines, said he has worked hard to
make his office open and available, "to allow people to have access to government because that's the way government is
supposed to be."
He faces the difficulty of being a Republican in the Democratic-controlled Assembly but says he still has been able to get
things done.
"If you want to get things passed, it's about working together, forming relationships," he said.
He said he has "no pride in authorship. If it's good for New York and it passes, it doesn't matter if I'm the sponsor or the speaker
is. Good bills should become law. It shouldn't matter whose name is on it."
He said he was proud to sponsor a law that provides property tax exemptions to members of the National Guard.
Both Ovadia and Walker cite high taxes and high energy costs as top issues in the district.
For Walker, maintaining the quality of life in the community is also important. He said the development of Nassau Coliseum
and 100 acres of Navy property need to be monitored, "making sure the communities are able to handle whatever is
eventually approved."
For Ovadia, maintaining Long Island's high level of education is key.
She said she also is concerned about the socialization and well-being of children in the school system, and supports programs
to combat bullying and improve nutrition, fitness and protection of the environment.
New York Post
8TH MISHAP ON CONEY I. BOARDWALK
By KIERAN CROWLEY
November 19, 2007
Another person in Coney Island says she's walked the plank - becoming at least the eighth victim to be injured falling through
the boardwalk of Brooklyn's famed but rotting landmark in the past two years. Linda Schoenholz, 64, said she and her husband
were walking on the boardwalk on the morning of Nov. 7 when a rotting board gave way under her feet and her right leg
plunged into the hole, injuring her and trapping her. "All of a sudden - boom! - my leg was swallowed up by the boardwalk,"
Schoenholz said. The retired postal worker received treatment at a hospital for massive bruising to her muscles and her knee.
Her lawyer said she will soon file a notice of claim against the city in preparation for a civil lawsuit. In June, The Post broke
the story of the series of injured boardwalk strollers - and the city's payouts on lawsuits.
New York Post
BLACK DRIVER'S 'BIAS' ORDEAL
By KIERAN CROWLEY
June 20, 2007
State troopers on Long Island pointed a gun to the head of a 19-year-old black Queens man driving his mom's Mercedes, and
threatened to kill him because he was speeding, his lawyer says. "It appears that he was profiled," said Stephanie Ovadia,
lawyer for Ricky Walker, who was pulled over on the Southern State Parkway at 5:10 a.m. on June 6. Ovadia said she would
file a notice of claim on behalf of her client, adding that Walker, who had never been arrested before, was driving to his job at
UPS in Uniondale when a state trooper pulled him over near Eagle Avenue in West Hempstead. The vehicle is owned by his
mother, Kim, a traffic-enforcement officer for the NYPD. "He was threatened with death because police thought he was
speeding," said Ovadia. "This was a complete violation of his civil rights." Walker said the officer called for backup and waited
for at least one other cop to arrive. "He told me to throw the car keys out the window, and I did that. When I saw him in the
rearview mirror, he yelled at me, 'Don't you f- - -ing look at me . . . I'll shoot you in the back of your head.' "I was scared,"
Walker said. "He told me not to move. He said 'You f- - -ing bastard, you move - I'll kill you.' " Walker said the troopers
approached his vehicle with their guns out and pointed at him. "I was looking down the barrel of the gun," he said. Walker said
he was pulled from the Mercedes, handcuffed and placed into the back of a police car while the cops searched the car and
trunk. "They kept asking, 'Where's the weed?' I told them there was no weed. They impounded my mother's car - I don't know
for what reason," Walker said. He added that they released the car the same day, after charging him with reckless driving and
citing him for speeding and failure to signal. He said the cop apologized to him before releasing him. A State Police
spokesman said no complaint had been filed against the officer, but declined to comment further. kieran.crowley@nypost.com
Special to amNewYork
Pol: Pharmacies sell off your data
By Magdalene Perez
June 19, 2007
Randee Lonergan filled prescriptions at the same pharmacy for years. But a month ago, she was shocked to find the pharmacy
closed - and all her family's medical records sold to a nearby Target store in Levittown. Shockingly, her information was sold
legally, due to a loophole in medical privacy law that allows pharmacies to "auction off" years of customer records --
including prescriptions, information about medical conditions, social security numbers and insurance records -- "to the highest
bidder," Senator Charles Schumer said Monday. "I'm outraged," said Lonergan, 34. "I felt that my right to privacy and my right
to choose had been taken away from me." Not only were her records sold, so were her husband's and 8-year-old daughter's.
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers' records may have already been sold, Schumer said, and the problem is nationwide.
Federal law requires doctors to let patients know when their medical history is being shared. But the law explicitly allows
pharmacies to sell patient information to other pharmacies, Schumer said. "It is outrageous that companies can get away with
revealing what prescription medications New Yorkers have taken and not even notify the customer," Schumer said. The
senator is calling on the federal Health and Human Services secretary, Michael Leavitt, to immediately change the law to
require pharmacies to notify patients before selling or transferring their records and allowing patients to opt out. For her part,
Lonergan is not taking the sale of her prescription records lying down. The Levittown resident plans to sue for violation of
privacy and deceptive business practices. "People have a fundamental right to privacy," said Stefanie Ovadia, Lonergan's
attorney. "Bottom line, the loophole needs to be closed." Lonergan placed an order for blood pressure medication at a Stop &
Shop on May 28. A week later she returned to find the pharmacy gone, and was told to pick up the prescription at the Target
next door, she said. When she pulled out her insurance card, a Target employee told her Target had bought her records, and
that all her prescription and insurance information was already in the store's system. A Stop & Shop employee acknowledged
that the information had been sold to Target, but a manager said she was not at liberty to comment. Calls to the corporate
office were not returned. Target released a statement which noted that transferring of prescription records is a "long-standing
industry practice" and that the company complied with all applicable state and federal privacy laws.
New York Post
Chuck: Shut Rx loophole
June 18, 2007
Pharmacies that go out of business can sell their customers' medical records to other drugstores - a legal "oversight" that must
be fixed immediately, Sen. Charles Schumer said yesterday. Those records include Social Security numbers and prescription
histories. But Schumer, who said he recently met with Health and Human Services Department officials, thinks the loophole
can be shut as early as next month. "People have a basic trust in their local pharmacy," the New York Democrat said. "I can't
imagine who'd object to this. It was an oversight." The Post reported last week that a going-out-of business Stop and Shop
pharmacy had sold information about Long Islander Randee Lonergan, 34, to a Target store. "[This] issue is going to get
larger," Lonergan's lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia Predicted. Eric Lenkowitz
News 12 Long Island
Levittown woman: Pharmacy sold private records
(06/12/07)
LEVITTOWN - A Levittown woman claims a Stop and Shop pharmacy sold her medical information without prior notification.
Randee Lonergan said when the Levittown supermarket's pharmacy closed, her prescriptions were transferred to the pharmacy
inside a neighboring Target store. Under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, individuals
must be notified and offered to decline their records' transfer. That letter never came, Lonergan said. "I felt very violated that
they gave away all my information," she said. "I should have been given the right to choose where to go." A Stop and Shop
spokesperson said there was a breakdown at the corporate level, and only a few customers did not receive notice. "Customers
are free to transfer to any pharmacy of their choosing," the spokesperson said, insisting that "no state or HIPAA laws were
violated." Stephanie Ovadia, Lonergan's attorney, said her client is considering her legal options.
New York Post
SICK OVER RX
By KIERAN CROWLEY
June 8, 2007
A Long Island mom said she was shocked to find out her local pharmacy had closed and sold her confidential medical
records to another pharmacy without notifying her. Randee Lonergan, 34, of Levittown, said the Stop & Shop Pharmacy in
Bethpage was shut down and a nearby Target had purchased the records. Her lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, said the action
might have violated federal and state laws, and she's considering a lawsuit
New York Post
OLD-TIMER DIES AFTER FALL DOWN CON ED HOLE
By KIERAN CROWLEY and WYNNE PARRY
April 22, 2007
A retired Queens pharmacist died yesterday from injuries he suffered in a freak fall into a 15-foot-deep construction pit at a
Con Ed site in Forest Hills, authorities said. Darryl Kahn, 64, died from head injuries at Jamaica Hospital at 2:45 p.m., a day
after he accidentally tumbled into the pit where Con Ed workers were replacing a transformer, police and officials at the utility
said. Kahn had been returning to his home from a nearby Off-Track Betting parlor at 5:15 p.m. Friday when he approached
the construction site at 70th Road and Queens Boulevard, his family said. Exactly how he fell into the hole was unclear. Con
Ed workers told police they had warned Kahn to stay away from the clearly marked and barricaded construction zone but he
didn't listen. "We don't know why this pedestrian squeezed into the area and how he fell . . . but he was in an area he shouldn't
have been," said Con Ed spokesman Joe Petta. Police sources said it appeared Kahn may have been drunk when he fell. But
Kahn's family insisted that he did not drink and said the site was not well marked. The family attorney says a lawsuit is under
consideration. "To have something like this open when there are a lot of older people in the area is really negligent," said
attorney Stephanie Ovadia-Deodene.
New York Post
'Vampire' & family skip town
May 4, 2007
A 15-year-old girl wanted for "vampire" attacks on Queens schoolmates has fled south with her family, sources said. "They
went south, I heard," said one source, who asked not to be named. He said the landlord is still trying to collect from the former
first-floor tenants of the Richmond Hill building. Neighbors, too, said the family flew the coop. "I felt so bad," said one
woman, who asked that her name not be used. "When they left, they just abandoned their puppy on the street." The neighbor
said she was "not surprised" the teen was accused in the savage attacks. "She isn't a good person," the neighbor said. "She's
troubled. I've seen her slap her brothers and sisters on the street. The whole family is troubled." Kieran Crowley, Lorena
Mongelli
New York Post
VAMPIRE ARREST WARRANT
by KIERAND CROWLEY
May 3, 2006
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the 15-year-old girl accused of bloody "vampire" attacks in Queens, after she
failed to show up for a court date. A lawyer for two of the victims claims her clients have been living in fear, and is demanding
Hillcrest HS and the NYPD protect them. "Where is Vampira?" lawyer Stephanie Ovadia asked. "She is not obeying the court
and is roaming the streets. Where is she - and is she a danger to my clients?" Ovadia said that as soon as she heard there's a
warrant for the teen - a self-styled "goth" ghoul - she immediately alerted her clients' parents, school officials and the police.
The lawyer has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Jamaica school, the city and the girl's parents. The arrest warrant
"doesn't surprise me because she's a dangerous girl," said Daniel Melendez, the dad of victim Michelle Melendez, 16. When
the suspect appeared as a minor in Queens Family Court on charges of assault, gang assault and weapon possession, a judge
issued an order of protection - directing the unnamed biter to stay away from Michelle. In the bloody Dec. 15 assault on
Melendez, the suspect "slashed the victim's face multiple times with a pointed object" and "bit the victim's face and neck,"
said Angela Albertus of the New York City Law Department. But the suspect failed to appear for the next court session and a
judge issued a warrant for her arrest, Albertus said. If the judge finds that the girl committed the attack, she could be placed in
a state facility for up to 18 months, and the sentence could be extended every year until her 18th birthday, Albertus added. In
the lawsuit, Ovadia charges that both sets of concerned parents promptly notified the school - but nothing was done.
Melendez's parents also called police and had the "vampire" teen arrested. But school officials claim that the crimes, which
occurred off school grounds - at a bus stop and on a bus - were not reported for three weeks and that the victims did not
identify their assailant. "That is not true," said Daniel Melendez. "We were at the school to report it the next day, and my
daughter identified the girl who bit her from a book of pictures the school showed her. "And we sent them a doctor's letter
about her injuries - and now they're saying it never happened?" kieran.crowley@nypost.com
New York Post
'MUNCH' BREAK
by TOM LIDDY, KIERAN CROWLEY and DAVID ANDREATTA
May 2, 2006
Another shaken victim of the teen vampire of Queens yesterday told The Post how her fanged attacker ripped a bloody chunk
from her cheek - and that it took a pack of rescuers to pry the crazed student off her. "She got a hold of my left cheek with her
teeth, and I thought she was going to let go, but she stayed on it," said Cynthia LaFortune, 16, of the alleged attack against
her by a seething, "scary looking" classmate on a city bus last December. "That's when a lot of people started pulling her. But
I told them not to, because when they were pulling her, she was pulling my cheek. "She was holding onto my skin for at least
one minute. [Afterward], my friend said, 'Look what she did to your face!'" LaFortune, a pretty varsity basketball player at
Hillcrest HS in Jamaica, is one of at least three students at the school who claim that their 15-year-old assailant - described as
a self-styled "goth" vampire - went for their throats. In court papers suing the school over the series of bizarre bloodlettings,
Lafortune swears under oath that the brooding student "had known vicious propensities." After a minor bumping incident in
the hallway, the vampiress "staked her ... onto the bus," said Lafortune's lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia. After first stabbing
LaFortune with a metal comb, her attacker "locked her jaws [on her] almost like a pit bull. It took five people to pull her off,"
Ovadia said. LaFortune said her face immediately swelled and developed blood clots. "I don't think I could have cried
because my cheek was hurting so badly," she said. She said she eventually told her mom what happened when one of the
friends who helped rescue her on the bus, Michelle Melendez, was attacked by the same girl two days later in retaliation for
going to LaFortune's aid. Melendez filed a report on her own attack with cops, who busted the girl but have not identified her
because of her age. LaFortune said that after her assault, the in-you-face vampire teen called her house to apologize. "I
didn't believe her, but as a Christian, you're supposed to forgive people," LaFortune said. Ovadia has already filed a notice of
claim to sue the city and said she will today file the multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city, the school and the parents of
the alleged vampire. LaFortune said her mom reported the attack promptly to the school but nothing was done. LaFortune
said she personally told a school dean what happened but he "said it didn't take place in the school, so he couldn't do
anything about it." School officials said the incidents were not reported to them until weeks after they occurred. And "when
they did, they did not say anything about having been bitten and did not name the attacker," said Board of Education
spokewoman Marge Feinberg. "That's not true," said Daniel Melendez, Michelle's dad. He said the family reported her
assault to the school and police the day after her Dec. 15 attack - and that his daughter identified the assailant in a student ID
photo. kieran.crowley@nypost.com
| Law Office Stephanie G. Ovadia 1-800-922-LAWS Press |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |