Partner Michael J. Boranian, Of Counsel Kenya S. Hargrove and Associate Timothy M. O’Toole obtained a defense verdict in Supreme Court, Suffolk County, Honorable J. George Nolan in a matter involving an alleged fall in a hospital room of a then 51-year-old female admitted for suspected septic knees status post bi lateral knee replacement at another institution.
On day seven of the admission after several instances of non-compliance previously and while our nurse was in the room tending to the plaintiff’s roommate, plaintiff attempted to exit the bed without assistance and contrary to acknowledged mobility limits. When the patient asked for help our nurse asked plaintiff to wait just a moment, but plaintiff didn’t and while attempting to get out of the bed fell, landing on her buttocks and sustaining a fracture of the left wrist. The fracture necessitated 3 subsequent surgeries over an 8-year period. At the time of trial some 10 years post fall the plaintiff demonstrated numbness, tingling, weakness and documented clawing of the pinky, ring and long fingers.
Plaintiffs’ version of the events regarding the fall significantly differed from our nurse and the hospital record. At Plaintiff’s deposition and during trial, plaintiff alleged that despite being on a one-person bathroom assist she was given permission by an unidentified nurse aide to use the bathroom unassisted and that she fell after having successfully negotiated her way in and out the bathroom with her walker. At trial we were able to completely disprove plaintiff’s claims as to how the fall occurred and that our care, treatment, and assessment of the fall risk along with interventions were appropriate. We also established that the fall was not the result of a lack of attention on the part of the nursing staff but was due to plaintiff's own noncompliance and failure to follow instruction.
After a seven-day trial, two questions as to liability were presented to the jury on the verdict sheet. After two hours of deliberation, over lunch, the jury answered both questions in the negative and returned a defendant’s verdict.