Cancer Patient Plaintiffs were the surviving son and daughter of a cancer patient whose

Suffers Broken
arm was broken by a student nurse. They sued the hospital and the nurse.
The woman was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in May 1993 and told
Arm When Moved she had twelve to eighteen months to live. On September 11, 1993, she
was admitted to defendant hospital complaining of severe pain. She was
By Student Nurse diagnosed as suffering from a urinary tract infection. It was also found
that the cancer had spread to her bones and destroyed a portion of her
(Student Nurse) ribs.
On September 15, defendant nurse fractured the woman’s left arm while
trying to lift her from the bed by the arm. Because the woman had a
terminal disease, physicians at defendant hospital chose not to set the
fracture. She was bedridden in the hospital and at a nursing home for the
remaining five months of her life. Plaintiffs claimed the nurse was
negligent in failing to use a draw sheet to lift the woman from the bed.
Their evidence showed that hospital guidelines required the use of a draw
sheet to move a patient suffering from metastatic bone disease.
Plaintiffs also claimed the woman could have been cared for at home if
she had not sustained the fracture. They said that care at home was not
feasible after the fracture because it took three to four people to move
her, and they incurred $26,845 in nursing home expenses as a result.
Defendants argued there was no evidence that the tumor had invaded the
humerus and that the decision to lift her by the arm was appropriate. They
also argued the progression of the cancer would have left the woman in
the same state of disability.
According to a published account, the jury awarded $92,000.

Failure to Hospital A in November 2006. The infant had Tetralogy of Fallot and had been receiving treatment at
Hospital A. This visit was prompted by vomiting. The infant was admitted with low blood oxygen level and
Properly high respiratory level. While the infant was in a continuously monitored bed, her mother discovered that
Treat and she was not breathing and notified the nursing staff.
Monitor The nurse carrying the alarm pager that was linked to the monitor never responded and the infant died.
The plaintiffs claimed that the initial finding of respiratory distress was inappropriately evaluated by the
Infant With resident physicians, two of whom were interns.
Respiratory The plaintiffs also contended that the nurses failed to properly monitor the infant.
Problems The plaintiff additionally claimed that the hospital should not have allowed the infant, who had known
heart and kidney problems, to be under the primary care of inexperienced interns when she arrived
(Pediatric noticeably ill.
Nursing) The plaintiff also claimed that the nurse was a recent nursing school graduate still in her orientation phase
at the hospital, and should not have been carrying the alarm pager.
The plaintiff also alleged negligence in the failure to respond when the infant stopped breathing.
The defendants claimed that the team handling the infant’s care was properly experienced and that the
hospital, as a teaching hospital, had a proper plan in place for treatment. The defendant also claimed that
there was no negligence and pointed to the fact that the infant had extreme cardiac and kidney congenital
problems.
According to a published account a $1,223,750 verdict was returned with the nurse fifteen percent at fault.