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Family sues after mom dies after fall from surgical table

Quality Improvement Monitor, February 1, 2008

A Massachusetts family is suing Boston Medical Center after an 86-year-old woman fell from an operating table moments after hip surgery, causing a massive head injury that lead to her death a week later, according to the Boston Globe.

Catherine O'Donnell fell through a gap in an orthopedic surgical table on October 6, 2007, when a nurse removed a safety strap around her stomach as staff prepared to move her to a hospital bed, according to an investigative report by the state Department of Public Health, the newspaper said. Still under anesthesia, O'Donnell's head slammed into the floor, fracturing her skull and causing internal bleeding. Despite another operation to remove part of her skull and reduce pressure from bleeding, she died October 13, the Globe said.

The lawsuit names four defendants, including Carlos Guzman, MD, an anesthesiology resident, John Pryor, MD, an orthopedic resident, and two nurses, Harvinder Miller and Ingrid Rush, according to the newspaper.

Boston Medical Center spokesperson Ellen Berlin told the Globe that the medical center had changed procedures to prevent similar accidents from happening, but declined to be more specific.

"We regret that this tragic accident occurred and are sorry for the pain it has caused the O'Donnell family," Berlin told the paper.

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