Patient Falls from Exam Table after Blood Draw, $75,000 Awarded

​A jury in Alabama has awarded $75,000 to a patient who claimed he fell from an exam table when he fainted after having blood taken, according to a report (login required) from the December 2015 Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements, and Experts. The 22-year-old patient presented to an urgent care center for a college physical and blood work. After a physician examined the patient, a nurse drew the patient's blood while he sat upright on the exam table with his feet hanging off the end. The plaintiff claimed that after the nurse drew his blood, she exited the room and the patient fainted and fell to the floor. The plaintiff alleged that the patient landed on his face and was discovered unconscious and bleeding. After being placed in a wheelchair, the patient underwent a computed tomography scan at another facility that was reported negative. The patient was then returned to the urgent care clinic to see an otolaryngologist who concluded that the patient had a nose fracture and a comminuted maxillofacial fracture to the bone between his upper teeth and nose. The otolaryngologist performed a rhinoplasty to set the patient's nose.