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Never Events Results

• PARALYZED PATIENT SUFFERS SEVERE BED SORES ON COCCYX AS A RESULT OF THE HOSPITAL NURSING STAFF’S FAILURE TO PROPERLY EVALUATE AND IMPLEMENT SAFE GUARDS TO PREVENT SKIN BREAK DOWN
• ELDERLY PATIENT HOSPITALIZED FOLLOWING HIP FRACTURE SUFFERS SIGNIFICANT BED SORES ON COCCYX AS A RESULT OF NURSING STAFF’S FAILURE TO PROPERLY EVALUATING AND IMPLEMENT SAFE GUARDS TO PREVENT SKIN BREAK DOWN
• PATIENT SUFFERS INJURY SECONDARY TO SURGICAL TUBING BEING RETAINED INSIDE HER BODY FOLLOWING A SURGICAL PROCEDURE

PARALYZED PATIENT SUFFERS SEVERE BED SORES ON COCCYX AS A RESULT OF THE HOSPITAL NURSING STAFF’S FAILURE TO PROPERLY EVALUATE AND IMPLEMENT SAFE GUARDS TO PREVENT SKIN BREAK DOWN

Larry Wall & Tina Huntington represented a woman who fell in her home in Eureka, Kansas. As a result of the fall she was paralyzed. She was transported to a hospital in Wichita, Kansas for treatment. The hospital failed to properly use the Braden Score to evaluate the risk of developing bed sores. The hospital failed to place the patient on a bed designed to reduce the development of bed sores. The hospital failed to frequently reposition and turn the patient. As a result a large bed sore developed on her coccyx. The failure of the hospital administrators and the nursing staff was well known to Larry Wall and Tina Huntington. Through experience we possess & knowledge of Wichita hospital practices regarding bed sores. Tina Huntington and Larry Wall prepared a draft of a Motion for Punitive Damages and submitted that and the draft of the Petition to the hospital’s malpractice law firm and suggested mediation. The case was settled for a large confidential amount that included funds to purchase a proper hospital bed and to provide for care for the wound until it was healed, in addition to substantial funds for the patient’s pain and suffering. In 2008, Medicare and Medicaid listed bed sores as a Never Event.

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ELDERLY PATIENT HOSPITALIZED FOLLOWING HIP FRACTURE SUFFERS SIGNIFICANT BED SORES ON COCCYX AS A RESULT OF NURSING STAFF’S FAILURE TO PROPERLY EVALUATING AND IMPLEMENT SAFE GUARDS TO PREVENT SKIN BREAK DOWN

Larry Wall filed a lawsuit against Riverside Hospital on behalf of a patient who was seen in the emergency room at a local hospital. She was admitted due to her inability to care for herself. She had fallen and broken her hip. On the admission history form, her skin was described as, “warm and dry without rash, lesion, or pigmentation changes.” Days later, a nursing operative record documented Kathryn as having a, “large area of skin breakdown on coccyx, Stage II, involving left and right buttocks…” Kathryn remained in the hospital for care and treatment of the decubitus ulcer for months. Following her release from the hospital, she would require care and treatment for the decubitus ulcer for an additional six months. Bed sores like this should never develop when a patient is in a hospital or a nursing home. A significant settlement was obtained due to the wanton nature of the nursing negligence and the extensive time it took to heal the sores.

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PATIENT SUFFERS INJURY SECONDARY TO SURGICAL TUBING BEING RETAINED INSIDE HER BODY FOLLOWING A SURGICAL PROCEDURE

Larry Wall and Tina Huntington represented an elderly patient who experienced pronounced abdominal pain and nausea following a routine surgical procedure. The patient’s pain continued and she underwent an exploratory procedure to determine the source of her pain. During the procedure, the surgeon discovered and removed a 6­-7″ piece of surgical tubing inside the patients body near the area of her small intestine. Through discovery, it was determined that a portion of surgical tubing dislodged from an esophageal kit used by the nurse anaesthetist during a prior surgical procedure the patient had undergone. It was also discovered that there had been a published recall by the manufacturer on the very esophageal kit utilized in the procedure. The surgical team failed to inspect the surgical instrument before and after the procedure to ensure it remained intact. The case was resolved before trial for a confidential amount.

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