Post TKR Fall Results in Death a Month After Surgery- Undisclosed North Carolina Settlement.

We tender our thanks to the plaintiff's counsel, Charles Rawlings, for the report of this case. Plaintiff's decedent underwent total knee replacement on March 23, 2017, and began recovery in stable condition. While undergoing physical therapy at the hospital on March 26, the decedent fell. The surgeon was made aware of the fall. Unfortunately, before an examination could be conducted, the decedent fell a second time, severely damaging the surgically repaired knee. The decedent was taken to the operating room where the surgeon found a dislocated, fractured patella, a quadriceps rupture, and a large surrounding hematoma. The knee was repaired, a wound VAC was placed and the decedent was transferred to ICU. Two days later a drug regimen of Ativan, Precedex, and Librium was instituted. As a result of being over-medicated, the decedent suffered a PEA arrest which required CPR and intubation. Following this incident, the decedent's health deteriorated rapidly. He developed acute kidney failure due to the extensive antibiotic regimen treating a staphylococcus infection in the knee. He died on April 17.

The case settled for an undisclosed sum in March 2019.