Elderly Woman Severely Injured in Fall Off OR Table

A patient who suffered hip and collarbone fractures, head trauma and intracranial bleeding after falling from a surgical table filed a lawsuit this week against Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut.

Attorneys for Florence Fiedler, 81, of New Canaan, Conn., argue that the hospital lacked safety policies which would have protected Ms. Fiedler after she underwent a 2010 pacemaker implantation surgery.

This lack of proper practices led surgical staffers to leave Ms. Fiedler temporarily unattended on the still-elevated OR table while she was recovering from anesthesia, say the attorneys.

The resulting injuries have curbed Ms. Fiedler's quality of life, the lawsuit states. The former FBI administrator is no longer able to drive or live alone, and required physical therapy to regain the ability to walk. The lawsuit is seeking more than $15,000 in damages.

"You take an active vibrant woman in her golden years and you turn her into a very old woman because you don't pay attention," Ms. Fiedler's attorney, James Horwitz, told the Associated Press. "That's terrible and it's outrageous."

Rob Hutchison, a spokesman for Yale-New Haven, said the hospital has apologized to Ms. Fiedler and taken corrective actions in the wake of her injuries.

David Bernard