Hospital Sued for Medical Negligence After Nurse Error

Roanoke, Virginia residents understand that medical procedures often require a great deal of care and accuracy, with even the most minor error likely to have significant consequences. Doctors, nurses and other support staff are educated to maintain the highest standards in their professional practice and to perform their duties very well. Despite this, there are still instances of negligence, which end up causing grief to patients.

In one such case from a neighboring state, a man who was hospitalized following nausea and vomiting filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital because a nurse performing a Foley catheterization procedure inserted the catheter, which contains a balloon, into the wrong organ. As a result, the man suffered an injury at the insertion site, which also resulted in bleeding.

The man’s complaint also alleges that, as a result of the error, he experienced other health-related issues, including a great deal of swelling and permanent impairment to his ability to move around. These issues made repeated transfusions of blood, a prolonged hospital stay and rehabilitation necessary. In the man’s case, there was a financial cost to the injury as well, with medical expenses and improvements of home access costing him over $127,000.

The man and the other person who has issued the complaint with him are seeking damages in excess of $50,000. They are also charging the hospital with vicarious liability and loss of financial stability and medical negligence. While each state has its own statute, which governs the penalties and damages in medical malpractice cases, a health care provider found guilty of malpractice can be barred from performing medical services and even lose their license to practice medicine.

Source: WVRecord.com, “Man says bad catheterization caused injuries,” Annie Cosby, Oct. 8, 2014