A Prattville family found vindication in a $2 million jury verdict against Noland Hospital today. The family was represented in court by Marsh, Rickard & Bryan attorneys David Marsh, Ty Brown and J.D. Marsh.
The medical malpractice case grows out of the death of 77-year-old Larry Nobles while he was a patient at Noland’s Long Term Care Hospital in Montgomery in 2012.
Mr. Nobles was admitted to Noland after a two-week hospitalization at another hospital in Montgomery. When he entered Noland, he was noted to be confused and disoriented, and at high risk for falls. His doctor ordered that wrist restraints be applied to Mr. Nobles because he was unable to avoid pulling on his central line, dialysis catheter and Foley catheter.
Despite the fact that when she left for the evening, Mr. Nobles’ wife reminded the nurses on duty to put the restraints on Mr. Nobles, the nurses did not do it. They left him in bed, unrestrained and unobserved. This was a violation of the doctor’s orders and a violation of Noland’s own policies and procedures.
Because he was unrestrained, Mr. Nobles climbed or fell out of bed and was found an hour later on the floor in his room, moaning and bleeding. He had pulled out his dialysis and Foley catheters. The nurses got him back into bed but never put an occlusive dressing over the hole left behind by his dialysis catheter. This, too, was a violation of the standard of care. Thirty minutes later, Mr. Nobles died as a result of an air embolism that entered his jugular vein through the open hole. The air embolism blocked the blood flow to his heart and resulted in his death.
David Marsh says, “We are truly thankful to the twelve citizens of Montgomery County who listened to the evidence and the law and found the truth. Even though Larry Nobles was of advanced age and in poor health, he deserved better, so much better. And the jury agreed.”
