Two deaths result in hospital negligence claim

An investigation was launched by another state after two people died at an area hospital. Hospital negligence was suggested when the report showed serious staff shortages at the facility. In fact, according to the investigation, there were times during the night that the place was so understaffed that they would have to wheel patients out of the only operating room during surgery in order to handle emergency situations. Diminished staff is an issue in many hospitals across the U.S., including in Louisiana.

There was only one surgical team at the hospital during the night, which consisted of a registered nurse, a surgical technician and an anesthesiologist. This team was solely responsible for assisting during any surgery, including C-sections, emergency surgeries and those that had been scheduled. During the daytime, the hospital had three surgical teams available.

Add that to the fact that surgeons often scheduled high-risk surgeries during the night, and the surgeries that needed to be performed as soon as possible had to wait. This caused the deaths of two people. A third person suffered injury when a surgical instrument was left inside the patient after an interrupted surgery. The chief surgeon that scheduled all three of those cases was known for planning her surgeries late at night when the staff was thin.

In this case, the hospital was ordered by the state to immediately take steps to fix the situation and complied with that order. It was too late for those who died because of the hospital negligence. Anyone in Louisiana who has suffered injury or the loss of a loved one due to the fault of a medical staff member or facility can consult with a personal injury attorney to seek damages for his or her loss.

Source: visLItimesdelta.com, “State cites TRMC, surgeon in two deaths“, James Houck, June 16, 2017