Patient tripped at Shaare Zedek and will receive half a million shekels

A 70-year-old patient who was injured when he tripped over a hazard in the ambulance bay at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem will receive compensation and expenses totaling about half a million shekels — this was recently ruled by the city's Magistrate Court. Judge Orna Sandler-Eitan rejected the hospital's claim that the injured party was busy pulling up his pants at the time and should be held responsible for his damages.

The incident occurred in 2020. The patient, an oncology patient receiving preventive treatment at Shaare Zedek, recounted that after getting out of his daughter's car, he tripped while walking over a hazard and fell with force onto a metal surface placed at the location. He broke his jaw and suffered bruises all over his body, especially on his face, shoulder, and legs. He was quickly evacuated to the emergency room and from there to the operating room for hip joint reconstruction. Due to the surgery, one of his legs shortened, and as of today, he suffers from a limp and has difficulty walking.

According to him, before the accident, he lifted grocery bags "like a tiger," but since then he has had difficulty doing so. His daughter testified that his condition "deteriorated from a hundred to zero" and that her father required assistance even with simple tasks like tying shoelaces. On the other hand, the hospital argued that contributory negligence should be imposed on the plaintiff, among other things because he was busy adjusting his pants before his fall, which distracted him. Additionally, it was argued that against the background of his past illness, his life expectancy was significantly lower than the statistical average of 16 years.

But Judge Sandler-Eitan rejected the hospital's defense arguments. She determined that a "spontaneous and natural action" like pulling up pants should not be seen as unreasonable behavior that negates caution. On the issue of life expectancy, she adopted the testimony of his doctor, rather than the defense expert, that his illness is no longer active, and estimated that the plaintiff has at least ten more years of life remaining.

The verdict stated that the hazard the patient tripped over constitutes negligence on the part of Shaare Zedek:

"Placing the hazard, whose color is similar to the floor color, at the entrance plaza of the hospital, without any fencing, sign, or warning label, therefore constitutes a clear violation of the defendant's duty of care towards those entering its gates."

The judge clarified that innocent passersby should not be expected to walk with their heads buried in the ground to avoid encountering obstacles, all the more so when it comes to the entrance to a clinic or hospital, "where a person is entitled to assume that the place is safe for passage." On the issue of damages, she noted that beyond the limp the plaintiff was left with, he has also suffered since then from extreme pain and an inability to lift his arms behind his head. For the various heads of damage, Shaare Zedek will pay him total compensation of 355,000 shekels, plus legal expenses and attorney fees of about 88,500 shekels.

• To read the full verdict — click here

• The article is in cooperation with the Israeli legal website PsakDin

• Plaintiff's attorney: Adv. Dudu Ben Ezri

• Defendant's attorney: Adv. Hali Toren

• Adv. Or Grazik deals with personal injury and accidents

• The author did not represent in the case

• The article is courtesy of the Israeli legal website PsakDin

• ynet is a partner of the PsakDin website