Painter Law Firm represented a client who was severely injured after a surgery when a nurse missed clear signs and symptoms of an infection.
The patient was being treated at a Houston-area hospital following a lap-band surgery. When the nurse removed a catheter line from the patient’s arm, the patient saw pus squirt out and asked for the line to be cultured. The nurse did not culture the line and did not tell the doctor about the incident. Instead, the nurse proceeded to discharge the patient.
A few days later, the patient woke up at home and could not get out of bed. She quickly discovered that she was paralyzed from the waist down. After being rushed to the emergency room of another Houston-area hospital, she had an emergency spine surgery to drain the infection and abscess that had spread to her spinal cord.
After months of rehabilitation therapy, the patient was finally able to walk again, using a walker, but still feels the impact of this avoidable injury every day.
The parties mediated the case before trial and attorney Robert Painter was able to negotiate a $550,000 settlement on behalf of the patient. The identity of the parties is confidential under the terms of the settlement agreement.
Texas medical malpractice attorney Robert Painter said, "Nursing care is so important for good patient outcomes. Doctors depend on nurses to notify them promptly when they see signs and symptoms of problems in their patients. That means that hospitals must ensure that nurses are properly trained and competent, and that nurses must closely monitor their patients. This case could have been avoided with good nursing care."
