Unplanned Extubation
Common. Costly. Deadly.
Unplanned Extubtion is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Read about the real UE cases and its affect on hospitals and individuals across the country.
A tragic breathing tube dislodgement story
According to the lawsuit, Bentley was admitted to the intensive care unit after suffering a traumatic brain injury. As a patient, he relied on a tracheostomy tube for oxygen.
On April 20, 2017, sometime around 2:30 a.m., Bentley’s breathing tube became dislodged, the suit said. When the problem was discovered, the complaint said, attendants “could not immediately replace the … tube and could not immediately restore the significant oxygen flow.
“As a result of the disrupted flow of oxygen … he suffered cardiac and respiratory distress which resulted in anoxic brain injury with severe anoxia.
Wrongful death suit due to UE
Community Memorial Hospital staff didn’t respond quickly enough when a dislodged breathing tube cut off a patient’s oxygen supply, a wrongful death lawsuit alleges.
Family members of Rafael Guillen said in the lawsuit that the 44-year-old Oxnard man who used a ventilator to breathe was left without oxygen for at least 30 minutes before staff at the Ventura hospital discovered what happened. He suffered massive brain damage and died several days later on May 5, 2018, according to litigation filed against the Community Memorial Health system in March in Ventura County Superior Court.
Death and lawsuit from UE
According to the complaint, Robert Pine alleges that on Dec. 5, 2016, the defendants provided anesthesia to Sharon Pine for a lithotripsy procedure, a treatment typically using ultrasound shock waves. As a result of the defendants' negligent acts and omissions, she became unresponsive and her pupils were fixed and dilated. She died on Dec. 8, 2015, after suffering from anoxic brain injury. Robert Pine suffered the loss of comfort, society and service of his wife.
Another tragic story of a UE death in a baby
A premature newborn baby died days after his twin brother when hospital staff 'missed opportunities' to recognize a vital ventilation tube had been dislodged, an inquest heard.
Lawsuit and death from UE
The family of a 29-year-old mother of two from Burleson, Texas, has filed a medical negligence lawsuit against Medical Center Arlington, the same hospital where the woman had worked as a surgical technician for eight years. The lawsuit says the victim was deprived of oxygen for more than a half-hour and suffered permanent brain damage when her breathing tube was dislodged.
Lawsuit from UE
However, Albear did not secure the tube properly, Pavalon said. When the tube became dislodged, Albear was unable to reinsert it, depriving Morkos of oxygen.
By the time surgeons were able to perform an emergency tracheostomy to provide oxygen to Morkos, 10 to 12 minutes had passed. She then went into cardiac arrest.
"There was no doubt that the negligence in this case caused this tragic occurrence and Neveen's irreversible brain damage," said Pavalon, a lawyer with the Chicago firm Pavalon, Gifford, Laatsch & Marino. "So not only do the circumstances justify this record settlement, but this is one of those traumatic occurrences that simply should not have happened."
After the incident, Morkos initially was in a vegetative state, but she has improved. Though she requires round-the-clock care and cannot walk, she can now say her husband's name and recognizes her children, Halana, 6, and Victor, 3, Pavalon said. She also can write in Arabic.
Dying man pulls breathing tube
Christopher Mininni, from Canada, was devastated when his dad, Jim, was admitted to Kingston General Hospital in Ontario on April 28, 2016, suffering from lung cancer. Jim, who had battled lung cancer three times in the past eight years, pulled out the breathing tube from his throat following a nightmare.
UE death in a baby
An investigation into one of the UK's top children's hospitals has begun after a three-month-old baby died.
Aksharan Sivaruban was due to have routine surgery to treat a hernia at Evelin London Children's Hospital but allegedly suffocated while in the hospital.
A breathing tube had become 'displaced' after being placed in the infant's throat before he died from a cardiac arrest on December 12.
A team of 16 staff tried for 45 minutes to resuscitate the boy but were unsuccessful.
Rattlesnake bite story with UE
"(If) that endotracheal tube would come out, because of severe neck swelling, it would be difficult or impossible to immediately put it back in or immediately perform ... an emergency tracheotomy," Curry said. "Because if that tube were to come out, then we would expect that they would be in very big trouble immediately, and perhaps might even die in four to five minutes."
Burn victim contracts pneumonia from UE event
After receiving skin grafts in front and back, according to Rita, Braxton had pulled his breathing tube out, resulting in a lack of oxygen that required six people to hold him down to put it back in place. He aspirated vomit into his lungs, she said, causing pneumonia. He’d also gone without oxygen for a time, and doctors were worried about the long-term effects on his cognitive abilities.
Hospital fined after UE death
Mercy Medical Center of Redding has been fined $100,000 after a patient died when her breathing tube fell out while she was being treated at the hospital. The fine was one of six issued so far this year.
