Moran Law Obtains $800,000 Elder Abuse Verdict Against St. Joseph Hospital of Orange

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., March 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 8, 2019, St. Joseph Hospital of Orange was found liable in a civil court for neglect of 65 year old, Francine Brodkin. Ms. Brodkin went to St. Joseph Hospital Orange's Behavioral Health Unit to treat her anxiety, but left instead with a broken right shoulder and will have to live with the permanent impairment to that right shoulder for the rest of her life. 

St. Joseph Hospital of Orange's own documentation show that they admitted Ms. Brodkin into their unit when there were no available beds. On the first night, Ms. Brodkin was put on a sofa in the dining room in the unit. St. Joseph Hospital assessed Ms. Brodkin to be a high fall risk and initiated a fall care plan that indicated they were going to keep her within their line of sight and provide assistance to her to prevent her from falling. On the first night, St. Joseph Hospital did not watch Ms. Brodkin and she fell off the sofa fracturing her right shoulder.

The physician ordered STAT x-rays to be done to rule out a fracture, which required that the x-ray be completed within one hour. St. Joseph Hospital did not complete the x-ray until 6 ½ hours later.

For the remaining three days of her admission at St. Joseph Hospital, the nurses placed Ms. Brodkin in the hallway of the Behavioral unit in a gerichair because they had no available beds.  Documents show that out of the 4 days/100 hours she was admitted into the Behavioral unit, Ms. Brodkin was not in a hospital bed for 85 of those hours.

Throughout the trial, St. Joseph Hospital maintained the position that Ms. Brodkin did not fall in their unit. It was undisputed by all medical experts in the case that this type of fracture requires significant force, and was caused more likely than not from a fall. As a result of the fracture, Ms. Brodkin is unable to raise her arm above her shoulder which will remain permanent for the remainder of her life.

For more information on the verdict, please contact Michael Moran or Lisa Flint at (714) 549-0333 or visit www.moranelderlaw.com.

SOURCE Moran Law

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