Q: Can my wife Sue a hospital for physically restraining her arms and legs without her consent. There was no order by a DR.
There was no order from a Doctor to restrain her in her chart. There was no documentation in her Medical Chart of her being restrained at all. The Nurse that restrained her was not trained in the use of restraints. Furthermore, there were no notes or documentation in my wife's medical chart of her being restrained against her will by this Nurse. My wife pleaded with the Nurse to please untie her but the Nurse refused and did not untie her until just before the day shift started. The Nurse committed battery and false imprisonment of my wife. The restraints were tied so tight that my wife complained that her wrists were hurting the next morning. Also degrading her like that did something to her Pathological. Also the next morning that was a lot of blood from a puncture in her back right side due to not being able to move from being restrained. Can anything legally be done about this?
A:
I would suggest you consult an attorney immediately because the facts discussed here lead me to believe you do have a claim against the nurse and the hospital.
I could see potential claims of medical malpractice, negligent training/supervision/hiring, assault, battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and or negligent infliction of emotional distress all being valid claims. The hospital may fight it based on intentional acts not being covered by their insurance policy, but the amount of time she was restrained left ample opportunity for them to discover the issue and correct it.
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