Posted on 07/23/2010 11:13:57 AM PDT by Justaham
Max DeVries was sedated and awaiting a routine surgery when he rolled off the operating table and hit his head, where doctors had earlier removed part of his skull because of brain swelling following a stroke.
The 61-year-old St. Paul man later died and the family contends St. Joseph's Hospital of St. Paul didn't use proper procedures and equipment to safeguard DeVries, who was 5-feet-5 and weighed about 300 pounds. According to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Ramsey County District Court, "The fall from the operating table was a direct cause of, or contributed to, the death of Max DeVries."
"It's a tragedy and it could have been avoided," said Shawn DeVries. His father suffered a stroke Feb. 7 and on March 8 was scheduled for a routine procedure to have a lumbar drain replaced. He was expected to leave the hospital in three days for rehabilitation.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
I imagine they were using a normal table.
This guy clearly should have been on something at least 6-8 feet wide.
Sheesh.
Oopsie!
On the other hand, Hyperactive Fork Syndrome (HFS) IS a health hazard.
Duct Tape
LOL!
Restless Leg Syndrome?
How does a guy who is sedated, wide as he is tall begin to roll? Even if he was on his side, wouldn’t his gut or butt be enough to stop a roll?
If he was that large, had a stroke and part of his skull removed I wonder how long he was going to last without the fall...they may have shortened his life by months....or days.
Fall or dropped? I think the latter. Probably too heavy to lift & they dropped him. Just my opinion.
5-feet-5 and weighed about 300 pounds.
Like that had nothing to do with it. This family is lucky I was not on the jury.
Allow me to opine since I work in an OR....
The OR tables are narrow. We do not have wide ones to accomodate obese patients because then the surgeon’s arms wouldn’t be long enough to operate. Typically, we strap the patients down with large leather straps reinforced with heavy tape if need be. Certain procedures necessitate turning the bed on an angle (so that the patient is airplaned, so to speak). This is often when patients can fall off the table, even while completely anesthetized.
We take many precautions, but unfortunately, things do happen. I believe in personal freedoms & liberty but I also believe that if you love yourself & consider your life a gift from God, you should do your best to care for your body & not get to be this large. Also, I wish people would realize how they endanger themselves by becoming morbidly obese. Even routine procedures become high risk & technically difficult due to size. Instead, though, healthcare provdiers are often met with an attitude of annoyance from these patients, who expect us to accomodate them & who blame everyone else for their condition.
Okay, I know I’m a bad guy, but the first thing that came to mind was the Foster Farms “Say No To Plumping” commercial in the cosmetic surgeon’s office.
Just think, with the way hospitals work today, I’ll bet the entire procedure is on video tape.
The guy’s family will own that hospital, cafeteria, parking lot and all.
That's a whole lotta lateral man flab for a heart to take.
A local hospital here had a similar case in the cath lab. a sedated patient, unattended, rolled off the table. She later died.
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