OLG Hamm For blindness, arm fixation is required

Hamm (jur). Dialysis patients with special health restrictions must also be treated with special measures during dialysis. If a patient is blind, the fixation of the dialysis needle may be required to prevent a life-threatening change in position of the needle, the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm ruled in a judgment announced on Wednesday, March 2, 2016 (Az .: 26 U 18/15 ). Thereafter, routine treatment procedures must always be tailored to the respective patient.
Specifically, it was about a 67-year-old patient from Arnsberg, who had to undergo dialysis in a nephrology practice in Sauerland three times a week. As a result of his diabetes, the man was blind. Despite his blindness, the man was treated as routinely as other dialysis patients.

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In June 2014, it came to a fatal error. A dialysis needle attached in the left upper arm released, causing severe bleeding. Although the patient was still being resuscitated, he died at the hospital the following day.

The husband's wife complained that despite her health limitations, her husband was not properly monitored and received emergency treatment too late. She demanded damages for the heirs, including her three children, and a compensation of 5,000 euros.

In its judgment of 16 February 2016, the Higher Regional Court largely justified the applicant. The defendant doctors are obliged to pay damages in the amount of 5,000 euros and to take over the funeral expenses in the amount of about 2,700 euros.

The arm of the patient should have been fixed because of his blindness, so as to prevent the slipping of the dialysis needle from the outset. Because the location of even a properly attached needle could in rare cases change life-threatening - for example, during movements of the patient. Then slide off a needle, the patient could bleed in a few minutes.

In the specific case, the patient had lost one liter of blood in just three minutes. But since he was blind, he could not sound the alarm in time. The dialysis practice would therefore have to fix the arm as a special measure against the slipping of the needle.

However, a permanent monitoring should not generally be required in the case of limited patients, emphasized the OLG Hamm. According to experts, an hourly monitoring is generally sufficient, but sometimes more frequent in patients who are unstable in the circulation.

The fact that the fixation can not be done against the will of a patient does not exclude the liability for damages. In blind patients, it is imperative to clarify the required fixation before starting treatment, according to the Higher Regional Court. (Fle / mwo)