Giants Sack Burress; Hospital Sacks Doc Who Treated Him

The New York Giants did the right thing yesterday by suspending troubled star wide receiver Plaxico Burress. Burress was suspended for the rest of the season, and his career with the Giants is likely over. The last thing that the Giants need is a criminal headache, and that's what they got in Burress, and that threatens to derail Antonio Pierce who was with Burress when Burress shot himself in the leg.

Meanwhile, the doctor who treated Burress has been suspended by the hospital for failing to follow policy. The Manhattan District Attorney's office is investigating the Giants, the New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center and the principals involved to determine who knew and why no one informed the police of the gunshot injury.

The Giants suspended superstar Plaxico Burress for the rest of the season yesterday, ending any chance for the troubled wide receiver to help his teammates repeat as Super Bowl champs.

Burress, who shot himself in the leg while drinking in a Manhattan nightclub Saturday morning, is ineligible to play in the team's remaining four games or the postseason.

"This is an important time for him to take care of his body and heal up, and also deal with the very serious legal consequences and other issues in his life," Giants President John Mara said.

Hours before the team disciplined Burress, the Manhattan district attorney vowed to investigate the alleged coverup of the Giants star's gunshot wound.

"We got the gun, we got the wound, but who knew and who failed [to report the injury] is part of the investigation," said District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who will probe why neither the Giants nor New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell notified police about the shooting

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The hospital suspended emergency room doctor Josyann Abisaab for failing to report the wound, sources said.

"Not reporting a gunshot wound is a clear violation of our policies and procedures," said Weill Cornell spokeswoman Kathleen Robinson, who said the hospital was investigating whether other staffers will be disciplined.

Abisaab, 44, could not be reached for comment. A 1989 graduate of the University of Rochester School of Medicine, she has no history of state disciplinary action.

There are reasons why policy requires reporting gunshot wounds, even if they are accidentally inflicted because of the potential for uncovering criminal activities in the process.

Burress faces criminal charges that could lead to a lengthy stay in prison - 3.5 to 15 years on two counts. Some suspect that Burress was carrying his gun after learning that a teammate, Steve Smith, was held up at gunpoint last week in Clifton in front of his home.