Hospital Dismissed From Medical Malpractice Lawsuit After Patient Fractures Leg There

When a person is admitted to the hospital they do not expect to suffer injuries while there. However this is what happened to one woman in Texas. She filed a lawsuit against Memorial Hermann Baptist Beaumont Hospital (Baptist Hospital) in March 2012 alleging that she sustained a hip fracture while she was staying in the intensive care unit.

The patient in this case, Sheila Antoine, claims that she was transported by ambulance to Baptist Hospital in February 2010 after she started to complain of sever shortness of breath, fever, and cough. It was decided by medical personnel that Antoine’s chest be X-rayed. As the hospital staff positioned Antoine on the table for the X-ray, she began to feel discomfort in her legs.

The pain in Antoine’s legs continued for a few days. It was so severe that she was unable to rotate her hip. When her left leg and hip were eventually X-rayed by medical staff it was discovered that she had suffered a fractured left hip. Additionally, Antoine claims that while hospitalized she also suffered from decubitus ulcers.

Antoine’s hospital records do not give any indication of when or how her hip was fractured from the time she arrived at the hospital and through her admission. She blames the staff of the hospital for her injuries which caused her to endure pain, suffering, mental anguish, and physical impairment, in addition to the medical costs. It was alleged that the hospital staff negligently failed to assess her medical condition and skin condition accurately, did not document the daily assessments of her skin, did not clean her skin properly, and failed to train employees properly as well as not supervise them.

As of November 9th, 2012 however, Antoine filed a motion to dismiss Baptist hospital from the case which the Judge granted the same day. Baptist Hospital was dismissed from the case with prejudice. Prior to the dismissal Antoine was seeking an unspecified judgment, pre-judgment interest, costs, as well as any other relief deemed just by the court.

But what do you think? I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com . You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.