Maggiano Files Class Action After HealthPlus Surgery Center Exposed 3,778 NJ Patients to HIV and Hepatitis

In late 2018, the New Jersey Department of Health sent letters to 3,778 people who had undergone procedures at HealthPlus Surgery Center in Saddle Brook, warning them they may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. State investigators had found a cascade of infection-control failures at the outpatient facility: operating rooms were not properly cleaned between cases, sterilized instruments showed rust-like stains, improperly stored supplies compromised item sterility, and a blood-stained stretcher sat in a hallway without disinfection even while inspectors were present. The facility had briefly closed for three weeks in September 2018 before reopening after staff terminations and procedural changes, but the damage to patient trust was done.

On December 28, 2018, Michael Maggiano of Maggiano, DiGirolamo & Lizzi filed suit in New Jersey on behalf of Lauren Marrero, a former HealthPlus patient, and her husband, Julio Marrero, as potential class representatives. The complaint named HealthPlus Surgery Center, whose owner was real-estate and healthcare executive Yan Moshe, and alleged negligence, battery, and wanton disregard for patient safety. A separate plaintiff, Mahogany Clifton of Paterson, joined the class in early January 2019. At a press conference shortly after filing, Maggiano described the toll on the roughly 30 clients who had already contacted his office: 'All of these people are suffering shame, embarrassment, humiliation, given the news they received over the holidays.'

The lawsuits multiplied quickly. Multiple firms filed competing complaints across New Jersey state and federal courts. Maggiano's action for the Marreros was among the earliest, and by early 2019 his firm reported representing more than 200 affected patients. By Supreme Court order of December 2, 2019, the New Jersey courts designated the HealthPlus personal-injury cases a Multicounty Litigation (MCL) and centralized them in Bergen County. Maggiano's class action was one of the early filings that helped shape the scope of the litigation before it was folded into the coordinated proceeding.

A separate strand of the litigation focused on injunctive relief rather than money damages. In that class action, plaintiffs argued that HealthPlus's initial notice to the 3,778 patients was deficient because it failed to inform them that bloodborne diseases like HIV and hepatitis B and C can have extended incubation periods. Testing within days or weeks of exposure can return false negatives. The class therefore sought a court-supervised corrective notice and a second round of free blood tests for patients who had been tested too early. Because it sought only injunctive relief, that class action was kept in Essex County rather than transferred into the Bergen County MCL.

The Essex County injunctive-relief class action, prosecuted by a separate group of class counsel, was certified on April 28, 2021. Under the resulting settlement, HealthPlus was required to send a supplemental corrective notice to class members and to provide an additional blood test at no cost to any patient who had been tested within six months of their exposure window. Class members also had the option to waive personal injury and money-damage claims in exchange for a one-time settlement payment. No aggregate settlement dollar figure was publicly disclosed. The MCL was formally concluded on February 21, 2023 per New Jersey Courts records.