[Diary/Dairy]

Remember this story??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080422/...6XbutOoZas0NUE

NEW YORK - A hospital did nothing wrong when it tried to examine the rectum of a construction worker who had been hit on the head by a falling wooden beam, a jury found Monday.




After deliberating for about an hour, a state Supreme Court jury awarded nothing to Brian Persaud, who sued NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital for unspecified damages. The panel found the hospital and its emergency room medical staff were not liable.

[morte]

that is too bad, i hope they do appeal.

[Altra]

My thanks go to the jury.

[Diary/Dairy]

It probably was not handled the best way.... but they were just doing what they had to do.

[earle58]

2 thumbs up!!

or in persaud's case, 1 finger up.

leslie

[Diary/Dairy]

The onefinger trauma salute, I think someone referred to it as.....

[Altra]

Originally Posted by diarygirl512

The onefinger trauma salute, I think someone referred to it as.....

It was the trauma bay handshake ...

[GingerSue]

"When Persaud resisted, staffers held him down while he begged, "Please don't do that," Marrone said. Persaud hit a doctor while flailing around, so the staffers gave him a powerful sedative and performed the rectal exam, he said.
Hospital witnesses testified at trial that the exam was never completed, but Marrone said that when Persaud woke up he was handcuffed to a bed and had an oxygen tube down his throat and lubricant in his rectum.
"He resisted because he didn't know what they were doing," DeFilippo said. "Once he said he didn't want the rectal exam, everything should have stopped."
DeFilippo said he believes the rectal exam was done as retaliation because his panicked client hit the doctor"

Maybe the staff could have considered stopping when Persaud said "please don't do that." Handcuffed to a bed? Retaliation?

[58flyer]

I have a huge problem with care being forced on people who decline it, especially when it comes to care of such a personal nature. I have been dangerously close to this situation a few times with emergency care, when people who felt they knew better than me should have taken the time to listen and try a different approach. I won out but only because I threatened them with lawsuits, action against their license, incarceration for battery, etc. That's a sad thing to have to do. My first response was something like "hey guys, stop for a minute and let me explain some of my concerns about this." That should have worked but it didn't. I can empathize with Mr. Persaud. I was hoping for a different outcome in his case. I'm no fan of lawsuits, but there are times when it is the last legal means of justice.

[RN-Cardiac]

How often does a traumal pt know more about what does or doesn't need to be done than the staff that's trying to help him?

I do understand that pts have the right to refuse medical tx. Pt's who are a/o x 3 with no drugs/etoh on board, no head inury, and completely mentally able to understand what's going on. A trauma pt with a head injury that becomes aggitated and violent is a very common thing! Should we just stop our assessment when the pt becomes uncomfortable with what we are doing?

What if they had stopped,..the pt had no rectal tone or was bleeding and we just focused on the head injury because that was what seemed obvious at the time? What if we decided okay Mr Jones if that is uncomfortable to you we just won't do it. Who would be at fault then?

I'm sorry but if you show up in my ER with a traumatic injury,.become aggitated and violent, I have to assume the worse until proven otherwise! A pt immobilized after trauma cannot be allowed to roll all over the cot until we know for sure his head and spine are okay!

And please explain to me why after a traumatic injury,.being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance,..C collar, back board,.multiple IV's,.etc etc,...why is a quick rectal exam such a big deal? Did this man really think he was being sexually assulted in a trauma bay full of people?