…A 61-year-old woman had extensive pelvic surgery at a local hospital. Although she was still very confused and agitated from her medication, she was transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular medical surgery unit. A nurse left her alone to find a doctor to make arrangements to place her in restraints. While the nurse was out of the room, she fell out of bed. She badly fractured her wrist, requiring two more surgeries. Medicare had recently published regulations which limit reimbursement to hospitals for eight conditions that are preventable complications of medical care. Broken bones during medical care is one of these eight preventable complications. This case settled satisfactorily without having to file a lawsuit.
