Table 3. Detailed summary of UC litigation cases from 1965 to 2015.
| Case No. | Year | Defendant(s) | Reason for UC insertion | Alleged breaches of duty by physician | Damages claimed by plaintiff | Summary of the cause of lawsuit | Trial outcome | Plaintiff award or settlement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009 | Hospital | Urine output monitoring | Failure to timely remove the UC and development of UTI | UTI, sepsis and death | Following surgery to repair a hip fracture, hospital staff failed to timely remove the UC as ordered by the physician and failed to recognize a urinary tract infection | Plaintiff | $325,000 |
| 2 | 1969 | Hospital | Urinary retention | UC insertion despite patient’s wishes | Severe pain, UTI, and hematuria | Plaintiff claimed that the catheter was not necessary and the nurse instructed the patient that it was essential | Plaintiff | $4,000 |
| 3 | 2000 | Hospital | Urine output monitoring | Failure to connect a UC to its drainage tube | Acute lumbosacral strain, acute hip strain and several body contusions | Plaintiff slipped and fell while visiting a patient who had a UC that was not properly connected to the drainage tube | Plaintiff | $7,710 |
| 4 | 1977 | Hospital | Routine post-operative care | UC trauma without deflating balloon | Urinary incontinence | Defendant failed to fully deflate the UC balloon and plaintiff claimed damage to his urinary sphincter after developing stress urinary incontinence | Plaintiff | $35,100 |
| 5 | 2011 | Hospital | Routine post-operative care | UC trauma with inflated balloon | Pain and impotence | After completion of the plaintiff’s surgery, the UC was accidentally pulled out inflated while the plaintiff was being transported | Plaintiff | $84,128.95 |
| 6 | 1975 | Hospital | Not mentioned | Removed a UC with the balloon inflated | Bladder fistula | removed a UC with the balloon inflated | Plaintiff | Not mentioned |
| 7 | 2015 | Nursing home | Urinary retention | Failure to reinsert UC | Pain, UTI, sepsis and death | Plaintiff suffered a stroke and had a neurogenic bladder. The nursing home failed to reinsert a UC after 4 days of overflow incontinence and urinary retention | Plaintiff | $310,000 |
| 8 | 1990 | Nursing home | Urinary retention | Inserting an indwelling UC against plaintiffs desire | UTI, pain and hematuria | Plaintiff claims that a UC was inserted against his will by nursing staff. Prior, the patient was managed with external condom catheters | Plaintiff | $25,000 |
| 9 | 1983 | Hospital | Urinary retention | Improper UC insertion | Not mentioned | Plaintiff had the UC balloon inflated in his prostatic urethra | Settlement | $25,000 |
| 10 | 1980 | Hospital | Urinary retention | A defective UC was inserted | Additional surgical procedures | Patient had a UC inserted for a urethroplasty, but urine leaking from what was later discovered to be a leaking catheter caused the urethroplasty to fail, leading to more extensive surgery and complications | Settlement | $86,500 |
| 11 | 2005 | Urologist | Urine output monitoring | Failure to insert a UC and obtain an informed consent for additional procedure | Additional procedure and post-operative complications | Intraoperative UC insertion was complicated and a Urology consultation was obtained. Subsequent cystoscopy revealed a stricture and an open cystostomy and suprapubic tube was inserted | Defendant | |
| 12 | 2013 | Urologist | Urine output monitoring | Lack of informed consent for UC insertion | Assault, battery, and punitive damages | Plaintiff underwent an inguinal hernia repair and was unaware of intraoperative UC insertion despite lack of catheter-associated complications | Defendant | |
| 13 | 1998 | Urologist | Routine post-operative care | A piece of a UC was left inside plaintiffs body | Additional surgical procedures | Following a radical prostatectomy, the patient’s UC was removed non-intact and a residual piece of the UC had broken off into his bladder. This required a cystoscopy to remove the plastic foreign body | Defendant | |
| 14 | 2010 | Urologist + hospital | Urinary retention | Failure to use the appropriate technique to insert and/or remove a UC | Additional surgical procedures | Plaintiff developed urinary retention after discharge following trauma and returned to Emergency Room whereby multiple attempts by nurses to insert a UC failed. A Urologist was consulted and found a bulbar stricture requiring cystoscopy and internal urethrotomy | Defendant | |
| 15 | 1973 | Urologist + hospital | Routine post-operative care | UC insertion caused urethritis and an injury to the dorsal tip of the penis | Urethral erosion | Plaintiff claims that multiple UC insertions were attempted and prolonged UC drainage caused urethral erosion | Defendant | |
| 16 | 2013 | Urologist + nurse + hospital | Routine post-operative care | Inadvertent early removal of UC | Pain + several surgical procedures | Plaintiff had a transurethral resection of a bladder tumor and the catheter was removed prematurely on postoperative day 1 instead of postoperative day 5. As a result, the plaintiff claimed unnecessary UC replacement | Defendant | |
| 17 | 1978 | Hospital | Urine output monitoring | UC balloon malfunction and negligence of hospital employees | Not mentioned | Plaintiff claimed a UC device malfunction and lack of timely evaluation | Defendant | |
| 18 | 2012 | Hospital | Urinary retention | Unintentional traumatic removal of UC | Urinary incontinence | An unknown hospital employee became entangled in the UC drainage tube and the fully-inflated UC was forcibly removed. Pt reported blood and tissue came out of his penis and he experienced "great pain and fear.” A nurse tried to reinsert another UC but failed and called a urologist was consulted who reinserted a UC | Defendant | |
| 19 | 2007 | Nurse + hospital | Urine output monitoring | Failure to empty the UC bag in a timely manner | Urine incontinence and permanent pain and discomfort | Nurse failed to empty the UC bag “from the time it was inserted until the following morning” | Defendant | |
| 20 | 1996 | Nurse + hospital | Urine output monitoring | Nurse failed to remove all of a UC from a prior surgery | Stress incontinence and UTI | Plaintiff claimed that failure to remove a piece of an inserted UC in 1971 caused her subsequent urinary tract infections and stress urinary incontinence | Defendant | |
| 21 | 1998 | Nurse + hospital | Urinary retention | Negligence placing a UC and associated UTI | Pain and UTI | Plaintiff claimed that the nurse had 2 inch long-fingernails that pierced a sterile glove while UC was being placed | Defendant | |
| 22 | 2004 | Gynecologist + hospital | C-section | Failure to supervise a resident’s insertion of a UC | Vesico-vaginal fistula | Plaintiff had an emergency hysterectomy following a complicated C-section. A senior resident placed a UC and the following day urine was leaking on a surgical pad under the patient. The patient ultimately underwent a vesicovaginal fistula repair | Defendant | |
| 23 | 2010 | Surgeon | Urine output monitoring | Injury during UC insertion | Fistula | Plaintiff claimed a nurse failed to place a 16 French UC and attempted a 12 French UC. A Urologist was consulted who placed a suprapubic tube | Defendant | |
| 24 | 2003 | Surgeon + hospital | Urine output monitoring | Traumatic insertion of UC and perforation of urethra | Urethral stricture and impotence | Patient was having diagnostic laparoscopy for lower abdominal pain and a nurse and the surgeon tried to insert a UC before the surgery for monitoring, but failed due to resistance. A urologist was consulted intra-operatively and found a severe urethral stricture requiring dilation and UC placement | Defendant | |
| 25 | 1974 | Gynecologist | Trauma | Negligence in postoperative care of plaintiff UC following a hysterectomy | Vesico-vaginal fistula | The defendant lacerated the bladder during hysterectomy and it was repaired primarily and a suprapubic tube and UC were placed. The plaintiff claimed negligence in monitoring, emptying, and management of her UC and suprapubic tubes | Defendant | |
| 26 | 2003 | Gynecologist | Urine output monitoring | Bladder injury following urethral sling surgery | Pain, impotence and additional surgical procedure | Defendant performed a urethral sling and injured the bladder. Plaintiff claimed prolonged catheterization and required an additional procedure for mesh removal from the bladder | Defendant | |
| 27 | 2008 | Nursing home | Comatose patient | Failing to perform proper UC care and maintenance | UTI, sepsis and death | A Department of Human Services investigation determined that the nursing home abused a resident by failing to perform proper catheter care and maintenance based on the resident’s condition which caused him sepsis and death | Defendant | |
| 28 | 1999 | United States of America (USA) | Urinary retention | Premature removal of UC | Recto-urethral and urethro-cutaneous fistulas | Patient had radical prostatectomy and UC was removed 10 days postoperatively. The patient developed urinary retention and multiple failed attempts at UC replacement failed and a UC was inserted cystoscopically. The plaintiff argued that the premature removal of UC caused multiple fistulae | Defendant | |
| 29 | 1990 | USA + nurse + corporation | Urinary retention | UC trauma | Bladder injury and wrongful death | Plaintiff claimed that his bladder was punctured with a UC upon insertion | Defendant |
UC, urethral catheter; UTI, urinary tract infection.