Hospital Malpractice Lawsuit Filed Over Operating Room Table Fall

A Connecticut woman has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against a New Haven hospital after suffering severe injuries when she fell off of an operating room table. 

The complaint was filed by Florence Fiedler, 81, of New Canaan, in New Haven Superior Court against Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Fiedler suffered a traumatic head injury, fractured hip and collarbone from the fall, which occurred in February 2010, after she had a pacemaker implanted.

Yale-New Haven is a teaching hospital for Yale University’s School of Medicine, which is also included in the lawsuit as a defendant. The hospital has admitted that the fall occurred and has apologized, indicating that new policies have been put in place to prevent similar operating room falls from occurring in the future.

“Yale-New Haven Hospital is committed to providing the safest and highest quality of care to its patients,” said the hospital’s spokesman, Rob Hutchinson, in a statement. “The hospital deeply regrets this incident, and we have apologized to the patient.”

The hospital malpractice lawsuit alleges that those policies should have been in place before Fiedler’s accident. Fiedler fell after the surgery was completed, when she was left unattended on the operating room table.

According to the complaint, Fiedler had still not recovered from the anesthesia, which contributed to her fall. The lawsuit alleges that hospital staff members should have realized she was at risk of a fall and should not have left her alone or should have taken preventative steps to prevent her from falling.

As a result of the injuries sustained from falling off of the operating room table, Fiedler had to relearn how to walk, cannot drive a car or live in her home, according to the complaint. Before the accident, the former FBI administrator indicates that she was an energetic world traveler.