Patient Suffers Permanent Injuries from Urinary Catheter

Case Overview

This case involves patient who had a foley catheter ordered for urinary retention. The patient was taken by ambulance to the ER with complaints of pain since having a catheter placed by a home care nurse. The ER physician instructed patient to use a topical anesthetic and follow up if his pain worsened over the coming days. The patients family called defendant with complaints of pain where catheter was placed and that the anesthetic he received for the ER was not helping. It was at this point that the patient let his nurse know that he wanted the catheter removed, however the patient’s physician declined this request. Eventually, the patient was taken to ER and a penile abscess was found Later that afternoon patient underwent debridement, and was diagnosed with gangrene. He was discharged from hospital to extended care facility a few days later, where he eventually died.