Medical Malpractice Court Case Seeking Damages for the Wrongful Death
of a Nursing Home Resident*
Case
Summary:
This is a review of a medical
malpractice court
case. In this case, the family of an elderly woman who had recently
died contended the
woman's death was caused by the negligence of both her nursing home and
a local area hospital.
The suit alleged the woman needed
hospitalization after nursing home orderlies failed to properly assist
her and she fell. The suit also claimed that the hospital she was taken
to failed to properly handle her post-surgical care. The family asked
the court to find both parties liable
in the
wrongful death of the woman.
Statement of Facts...
On January 3rd, 2011, Gina Andez was a patient in
the October Church
Home. Andez normally ate her lunch at 12:00 noon each day. At 11:45
each day it was the duty of one of the nursing home orderlies to take
Andez from her room to the dining hall. This day Andez had to wait
for the orderlies to come by.
Although able to walk, Andez, because of her age
and infirm
condition, required assistance to climb out of her bed and into a
wheelchair. It was already noon and Andez was hungry. Not wanting to
wait any longer,
Andez climbed out of bed and began to make her way
down the hall toward the dining hall. She left her room and turned to
begin her walk. As she left the room, she
slipped
and fell, breaking her left hip,
otherwise known as a “femoral fracture."
Andez was taken by ambulance to Keaton Memorial
Hospital. She was
admitted into the emergency room in great pain and discomfort. The
on-call physician ordered Demerol and Alprazolam. He sent Andez to the
Radiology Department for an MRI examination. He also ordered a CAT
Scan. The results of the examinations revealed a compound femoral
fracture
to Andez’s left hip.
Because
of the splintering of the femur,
surgery was required and included the insertion of pins
to bind
the femoral bone. Surgery was successfully performed, and Andez was
required to remain in the hospital for observation.
Three days after surgery Andez began to develop a
fever. Although
noted on her chart, two days passed before the on-call physician
ordered a blood workup. The blood tests revealed a staph infection
developed post-surgery.
By the time antibiotics were prescribed, the
infection had progressed to a critical state. Andez developed
pneumonia and 48 hours later died.
The Lawsuit...
In their medical malpractice court case Andez’s
attorneys
contended October breached the standard of care required of them in the
care and treatment of patients. This breach of the standard of care was
tantamount to negligence.
They
contended October’s failure to provide the care expected of it resulted
in the negligent wrongful death of Andez. The lawsuit
contended if the
orderlies had assisted Andez into her wheelchair, Andez would not have
had to walk to the dining hall.
Her frail and infirm condition together
with her having to walk to the dining hall resulted in her falling and
fracturing her hip. That fall resulted in her hospitalization
which led to pneumonia and her ultimate wrongful death.
In
their lawsuit, Andez's attorneys also contended Keaton breached the
standard of care required of them in their care and
treatment of
patients. That breach of the standard of care was also tantamount to
negligence.
The on-call physician’s and hospital staffs’
failure to recognize the severity of Andez’s staph infection and
the highly probable pneumonia which might naturally follow, combined
with the physician’s failure to prescribe the antibiotics to
fight the infection, resulted in Andez’s ultimate and untimely
wrongful
death.
Outcome...
After hearing the arguments of attorneys for both
sides and hearing the evidence presented in this
medical malpractice court case, the
Court ruled as follows:
"The Plaintiff provided by a
preponderance evidence that
Defendant
October owed Andez the standard of care Andez came to rely
upon when she was admitted to October’s Nursing Home.
The
unrefuted evidence clearly established Andez came to expect the
orderlies to assist her into her wheelchair and transport her to the
dining hall each day at approximately 11:45 a.m. When the orderlies
failed to assist her, Andez’s decision to walk and her
resultant fall were imputed to the Defendant October.
The Plaintiff also provided by a
preponderance of evidence
that
Defendant Keaton Memorial Hospital owed Andez a standard of care, and
although Andez did not come to an agreement with Church to provide to
her the appropriate care and treatment, the standard of care must be
imputed to Keaton.
The
standard of care owed by Keaton to Andez was
breached. That breach manifested itself when October
failed to
recognize the staph infection developed by Andez. That failure
resulted in the ultimate wrongful death of Andez."
Important
Points...
- Over the years Courts have
established the existence of standards of
care owed by various entities to those who provide various degrees of
care to others. The Courts have developed through common law the
requirement of one of the highest standards of care between medical
providers and the elderly
and infirm.
The Courts have maintained that
high standard of care because a breach of that standard has a greater
potential to cause serious injury or death to those for whom that
standard of care is owed. Finding
a breach of the standard of care is
usually the core of a medical malpractice court case.
- Many lawsuits are filed as a
result of the absence of written
statutes which might otherwise govern the behavior which led to the
actions supporting a lawsuit.
In the absence of clear and concise laws
which would define each party's behavior, the Courts have existed to
intervene and create new law, or rely
upon law previously decided by
the Courts. The intervention of the Courts helps interpret existing
statutes and creates new law where necessary. In doing so the Courts
are said to be relying upon the “Common
Law”.
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*This
case example is for educational purposes only. It is based on actual
events although names have been changed to protect those involved. Any
resemblance to real persons or entities is purely coincidental.
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