Michael Melkonian, 55, of West Sand Lake, acting Supreme Court Justice, married, father of two teenagers and a judge since 2008, died October 17, 2019 after arriving at hospital with chest pains. He called his cardiologist eight minutes before arriving at Albany Med saying he was worried about having a heart attack, and was told to go to the emergency room.

Less than half an hour after arriving, Melkonian died of cardiac arrest. He had been left alone and unattended in a hospital room for 23 minutes, John H. Fisher, the attorney for the Kingston-based judge’s widow, told jurors during closing arguments on Wednesday.

“I am thrilled that Albany Med was held accountable for the lack of care they provided to my husband,” Caroline Melkonian told The Times Union outside the courtroom following the verdict. “If it could happen to us, it could happen to anyone who goes to the emergency room thinking they are going to be treated, treated and cured.”

She praised the jury for their conscience, adding, “I felt like justice had been served with these jurors.”

The verdict fell moments after 3:20 p.m.

Jurors were asked whether the hospital was negligent in its care and treatment of the judge. The foreman of the jury quickly replied, “Yes.”

The judge, in turn, asked the foreman whether the hospital’s negligence more likely than not deprived Melkonian of a substantial chance of surviving his heart attack.

“Yes,” repeated the foreman.

The jury awarded Melkonian’s son and daughter $2.5 million for the loss of the training and intellectual, moral and physical assistance their father would have given them over the next 20 years if he had survived.

Jurors awarded Melkonian’s wife $5.1 million in losses resulting from her husband’s death.

“Our only goal was to bring justice to the family,” Fisher said, “and today we accomplished that.”

On October 17, 2019, a hospital technician found Melkonian in a chair, his face pale and his heart flat. He was declared deceased.

“It didn’t have to happen,” Fisher told the jury, which heard the case in the Albany County Courthouse. “It was a needless death – and I think everyone in this courtroom knows that.”

Albany attorney Peter Scolamiero, lead attorney for Albany Med, declined to comment after the verdict. Earlier he told jurors the death was a tragedy but not malpractice.

Caroline Melkonian filed a malpractice lawsuit against the hospital in November 2019.

Fisher, who handled the case with former appellate judge William McCarthy, asked jurors to award the judge’s wife and children millions of dollars given the likelihood, according to expectation tables of life, which Melkonian would have lived 24 more years.

On the day of Melkonian’s death, medical staff at Albany Med did not treat Judge with aspirin or other blood thinners or nitroglycerin, blood pressure medications or other drugs for the heart, Fisher said.

Fisher told jurors that Albany Med betrayed the judge’s trust. And he said the hospital failed to take the judge’s health seriously at a time when Melkonian thought the hospital was the safest place.

“He would have been better off on the street to have had a heart attack,” Fisher said, saying the judge would have been noticed by someone sooner.

Scolamiero told jurors in his summary that when the judge arrived at the hospital on October 17, 2019, Melkonian showed a normal heart rate. Additionally, he said an echocardiogram (ECG) showed no signs of heart trouble.

The judge, he said, laughed and smiled at times after he arrived.

“Remember, it happened very quickly,” Scolamiero told jurors. “Although it was a tragic event, it was not professional misconduct.”

Albany Med’s attorney argued that it was illogical and “absolutely ridiculous” for Fisher to suggest that aspirin or constant monitoring by Melkonian could have prevented the judge’s death.

Hospital staff “did everything they could, but they couldn’t resuscitate him,” Scolamiero said.

The jury began deciding the case around 1:20 p.m. after receiving instructions from state Supreme Court Justice Christopher P. Baker, who is based in Schuyler County.

Earlier Wednesday, jurors heard testimony from Boston-based cardiologist Eric Secemsky, a witness from Albany Med.

When questioned by Scolamiero, Secemsky testified that placing a heart monitor on Melkonian or giving the judge aspirin would not have increased his chances of survival. He also testified, during Fisher’s cross-examination, that he was paid more than $13,000 for his work for the defense – and initially billed more than $17,000.

Melkonian, who lived with his family in West Sand Lake, was appointed by Governor David Paterson to the Court of Claims in 2008.