Nursing medical malpractice and abuse of a dependent adult . Jane and John Doe v. Hospital and Nurse

Disposition: (Settlement/Arbitration/Trial)	Settlement
Date:	3/1/1993
Type of Case:	Medical Malpractice
Allegation(s):	Nursing Malpractice - Disc Herniation
Result:	$150,000
Case Name:	*Jane and John Doe v. Hospital and Nurse (confidential)*
Facts:
On November 10, 1990, 35-year-old plaintiff, Jane Doe, underwent surgery for a disc herniation at the L4-5 level. She returned to her room with multiple I.V. lines in place. In addition, a "PCA" device (patient controlled analgesic) was placed behind her right shoulder with an I.V. line running into a catheter at her right wrist. This device contained morphine which the plaintiff could self-administer for pain. Sometime shortly thereafter, a woman dressed in surgical scrubs, later identified as defendant Nurse, entered plaintiff's room and closed the door. She immediately moved to the side of plaintiff's bed and removed the call button from plaintiff's reach. Although plaintiff repeatedly asked defendant Nurse what she wanted, defendant Nurse refused to respond. As the plaintiff was lying immobile on her back, defendant Nurse grabbed her and threw her forward in order to get to the PCA device. The plaintiff slipped backward several times and defendant Nurse repeatedly threw her forward and then on to her left side, wrenching plaintiff's back. Eventually, defendant Nurse was able to strip the PCA device and she pushed plaintiff backward. She then placed the PCA device on plaintiff's stomach and used a key device to open it and remove the morphine. In the process, she also used a scalpel to slash all of plaintiff's intravenous lines. During the entire process, plaintiff was screaming and pleading for defendant Nurse to stop, along with screaming for help. After removing the morphine, defendant Nurse ran from the room and shut the door so that the planitiff's screams would go unheeded. When the I.V. lines were cut with the blade, they reversed themselves, drawing blood. Plaintiff screamed, believing she would bleed to death. Someone later came into her room and stopped her bleeding. There was blood everywhere. Despite plaintiff's request that defendant Hospital contact the police, and despite specific representations from the administration that they would report the incident to the police and to the Board of Registered Nursing, defendant Hospital did not report this matter to the authorities. In fact, Jane Doe later had to tell her treating physician about the assault since defendant Hospital failed to inform him. Although the Hospital knew it was responsible for the assault (Defendant Hospital terminated defendant Nurse six days after the assault), no report was ever made to the authorities. In failing to report the incident, defendant Hospital violated Penal Code Section 112160 which makes it a misdemeanor to fail to report to appropriate law enforcement officials an injury to a patient which has been inflicted in violation of the Penal Code. Further, the Penal Code also requires that incidents and unusual circumstances be recorded in a patient's chart. No record of these events was ever recorded in the plaintiff's chart. Defendant Nurse was charged with 12 different counts in a criminal complaint. On May 13, 1991, defendant Nurse pled guilty to two counts which included possession of a controlled substance and "abuse of a dependent adult." She admitted that she abused a dependent adult "under circumstances and conditions likely to produce great bodily harm and death..." Subsequent investigation revealed that defendant Nurse had previously been convicted of crimes involving the theft of narcotics at several Northern California hospitals in the mid-1980s and had her nursing license revoked with a reduction to suspension for several years. In addition, defendant Nurse had been convicted of a misdemeanor possession charge in San Diego County and was placed on probation within two months of her hire date at defendant Hospital.
Injury/Injuries:
Recurrence of a disc herniation at L4-5 (disputed), minor herniation at L5-S1 and emotional distress. Past medicals of $25,000 (disputed) and future medicals of $30,000 (disputed). All medical expenses were covered by insurance.
Contentions:
Plaintiff contended that the Hospital was grossly negligent in failing to appropriately check into defendant Nurse's background before hiring her and specifically placing her in "I.V. therapy" where she would have access to the very drugs she had abused in the past. In addition, the Hospital's negligence in this regard was greatly compounded after defendant Nurse's hire. Sepcifically, shortly after defendant Nurse's hire, narcotics began disappearing and several other patients had their PCA devices stolen before the plaintiff did. In fact, the evening before the incident involving plaintiff, a PCA device was stolen from another patient and defendant Nurse was positively identified as the person responsible. There were also incidents of defendant Nurse's "bizarre behavior" more than a month before the incident occurred. Plaintiff also contended that defendant Hospital fraudulently concealed the facts of the attack and failed in their statutory obligation to report this incident and the disappearance of the drugs in question to the proper authorities.
Special Notes:
Plaintiff initially demanded $150,000 from defendant Hospital for Jane Doe and $50,000 for her husband for loss of consortium. The Hospital offered $50,000. < back to Medical Malpractice Case Histories from The Law Offices of Robert Vaage and www.vaagelaw.com