Attorneys for his family say Jeffrey Hightower had been complaining of rectal bleeding and pain, and requesting medical attention both verbally and in writing, for two months before his death.

A Passaic County medical malpractice suit filed by a 54-year-old Totowa man and his wife, Dominianni v. Warta, M.D., after an elective hernia repair, resulted in a $2.25 million settlement with the ...