Medical Malpractice Hospital Fall with Fracture

Key Takeaways

• Failure to Follow Physician Orders: Hospital staff failed to activate a doctor-ordered bed alarm for a post-surgical patient evaluated as a high fall risk.
• Medication Protocol Violations: Nurses administered heavy sedatives and narcotics (Ativan and Morphine) without documenting medical necessity or reassessing fall risk post-medication.
• Proven Nursing Negligence: Strategic discovery and depositions demonstrated clear breaches of standard care, compelling the hospital to reach a substantial confidential settlement.

Hospital Negligence & Unused Bed Alarm Lead to Severe Fall and Ankle Fracture

While on vacation in Florida, an elderly client was admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery to treat a bowel obstruction. Following the procedure, medical staff correctly identified her as a high fall risk and ordered a bed/chair alarm to prevent unassisted movement.

Despite explicit orders, the attending nurse improperly documented the patient as low risk, administered a powerful psychotropic medication (Ativan) without noting a clinical reason, and gave a 4 mg dose of Morphine two hours later—again without documentation. The nurse failed to reassess her fall risk after administering these heavy sedatives and neglected to activate the ordered bed alarm. Left unmonitored and disoriented from medication, the patient fell while attempting to get out of bed, suffering a severe ankle fracture.

Warner & Warner filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital. Through rigorous discovery and nurse depositions, our legal team exposed clear protocol violations and established nursing negligence, forcing the hospital to settle the case out of court for a substantial confidential amount.