The plaintiff, age seventy-four, had end-stage renal disease. She began to experience severe back pain and was transported to the defendant hospital. The plaintiff was given a morphine injection which caused an allergic reaction. She was admitted to the hospital and placed in a soft waist restraint on her bed. At some point during the night, the plaintiff fell to the floor. She suffered a fractured hip and underwent surgery to repair the fracture. The waist restraint was found on a window ledge near the plaintiff’s bed, but neither of the two nurses assigned to the plaintiff claimed any knowledge of how the restraint was removed from the plaintiff or how the restraint came to be on the window sill.

An entry in the plaintiff’s chart shortly before the plaintiff was found on the floor indicated that the plaintiff was in the restraint. The plaintiff claimed that the nurses improperly secured the restraint and/or removed the restraint. The plaintiff alleged limited use of her hip as a result of the fall.

The defendants claimed that the plaintiff had removed the restraint herself, which the plaintiff maintained she was unable to do.

According to Ohio Trial Reporter a $127,188 verdict was returned.

With permission from Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts; Lewis Laska, Editor, 901 Church St., Nashville, TN 37203-3411, 1-800-298-6288.