A 63-year-old husband and father was admitted to the hospital for dizziness and shortness of breath. The patient also suffered from dementia and low blood pressure—conditions that put him at a high risk of a fall accident.
Despite these risk factors, the patient was allowed to remain alone in his hospital room without a bed alarm or monitor. He fell in that hospital room and he died as a result of his fall injuries.
And the Hospital Did Not Want to Provide Damages to His Family
Instead, the hospital seemed to think that the family’s claim was worthless because the man had been a smoker for much of his life. The hospital refused to turn over all of the incident reports concerning his fall and most of the witnesses to the event claimed that they didn’t recall anything.
Despite these obstacles, we were able to prove that the hospital violated its own policies concerning fall prevention. We did this through numerous depositions, including the depositions of expert witnesses. After the depositions, the hospital settled this case for a confidential amount.
It is our hope that this case will raise awareness about how serious hospital falls can be and how easily they can be prevented with proper care. We invite you to learn more about this important topic by reading our FREE articles, “Common Causes of Falls in Nursing Homes and Hospitals” and “Potential Damages in a Hospital Fall Wrongful Death Case.”