Estate of P.L. (deceased) v. Hadassah (Civil Case 1549/96 Jerusalem District Court, Civil Appeal 1371/98 Supreme Court)

Mrs. P. L. suffered from necrosis in the toes of her right foot and was hospitalized at Hadassah Hospital for treatment and pain relief. Due to her severe pain, she constantly writhed in her bed and attempted to get out of it, and the nurses even moved her closer to them in order to supervise her. Since her writhing included inserting her legs between the bed rails, the nurses lowered the bed rails so that she would not injure herself. However, this action by the nurses, which was not accompanied by adequate supervision, caused Mrs. Levi to fall from the bed to the floor during the night, suffer severe head injuries, and pass away after approximately three days.

The deceased's husband filed, through our office, a tort lawsuit against Hadassah Hospital for causing the death of the deceased through negligence.

Hadassah Hospital attempted to deny responsibility for the death of the deceased and claimed that its employees acted reasonably, but the court rejected this claim and determined that this conduct, under the circumstances of the aforementioned case, constitutes negligence and obligated the hospital to compensate the heirs of the deceased due to her death.

The hospital attempted to exempt itself from the obligation to compensate under the heading of "pain and suffering and shortened life expectancy," claiming that the deceased's life was already full of suffering, but the court rejected this claim and obligated the hospital to pay compensation.

The hospital appealed to the Supreme Court against the verdict, which determined its negligence and obligated it to pay compensation, and in turn we filed an appeal on behalf of the heir regarding the amount awarded, claiming that it should be increased. During the proceedings at the Supreme Court, and upon the court's recommendation, the verdict remained in place and the compensation amount was increased.