ALBANY — The family of Raymond Cipriano filed a lawsuit against Albany Medical Center Hospital on Nov. 9.
The hospital is being held responsible for the death of Cipriano, who was an Amsterdam resident.
Attorney Heidi Gifford sent a copy of the complaint that was served to the hospital to the Leader-Herald. According to the copy, Albany Medical Center is being sued by Cipriano’s family and his daughter, Donna Pinto was appointed as his Administratrix of the Estate.
According to the document, the hospital is being sued because “the defendant hospital, by and through its agents, servants, nurses, technicians and employees, negligently and carelessly deviated from the accepted standard of medical care, in and among other things, by failing to properly supervise the decedent; by failing to reconize his increased risk of fall; by allowing the decedent to ambulate; by failing to properly attend to the decedent while he attempted to ambulate; by failing to provide due care and attention to a patient who was recovering from a procedure and in a confused and medicated state.”
Cipriano died Jan. 4, due to a head injury he sustained while in the hospital.
Cipriano was transferred to Albany Medical Center from St. Mary’s Hospital on Jan. 2, 2017 for urologic evaluation of an infected kidney. There he had surgery for the infected kidney, undergoing a procedure for a suprapubic urinary bladder catheter placement. During Cipriano’s recovery, he attempted to walk which led him to fall backward hitting the floor causing injuries to his head.
Gifford said it was another patient who was sharing a room with Cipriano who got him help.
“He had a subdural hematoma and died as a result of head wounds,” Gifford said.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, www.mayoclinic.org, a subdural hematoma is a collection of blood in the skull that is caused by ruptured blood vessels in the brain from trauma such as falling.
According to Mayo Clinic, one of the ways to treat a subdural hematoma is by surgery with either a procedure of surgical drainage or a craniotomy.
Gifford said Cipriano did not have surgery for the brain injury.
According to the summons document, Cipriano was considered to be at an increased risk of falling and his bed rails should have been up when they were not. The document also states that Cipriano also had a history of falling.
Cipriano was also in a “debilitated state” from his recent procedure, his medical conditions and the prescribed medications he was on.
“Mr. Cipriano’s death could have been completely prevented had necessary precautions been taken while the patient was at Albany Medical Center,” Gifford said.
