Facts: The defendant at trial in this medical
malpractice action was a podiatrist who treated
the plaintiff for foot pain three times in July
of 2007. The plaintiff alleged that the
defendant negligently failed to diagnose and
treat necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-
eating disease, thereby resulting in a below-
knee leg amputation.
The defense maintained that the plaintiff did
not develop the necrotizing fasciitis until
after her last visit with the defendant
podiatrist. The hospital where the plaintiff was
treated subsequent to her last visit with the
defendant, and a number of emergency room
providers, settled the plaintiff's claims for an
undisclosed sum prior to trial. The foot care
center which employed the defendant podiatrist
was voluntarily dismissed from the case shortly
before trial began.
Evidence showed that the plaintiff saw the
defendant podiatrist three times for foot pain
between July 2 and July 11, 2007. The plaintiff
testified that her foot was red, she had a fever
and there was an open wound on her foot at time
she was examined by the defendant.
The defendant made a presumptive diagnosis of
stress fracture. Four days after her last visit
with the defendant, July 15, 2007, the plaintiff
presented to the (settling) hospital's emergency
room. The emergency room physician also
diagnosed the plaintiff with a stress fracture
of the foot and released her to her home.
The plaintiff was admitted to a non-party
medical center two days later, July 16, 2007.
She was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis
some ten to 12 hours after admission and
underwent multiple surgeries. Necrotizing
fasciitis is defined as a rare infection of the
deeper layers of skin and subcutaneous tissues,
which easily spreads across the fascial plane
within the subcutaneous tissue. The plaintiff's
leg could not be saved and she ultimately
underwent a below-knee amputation.
The plaintiff's wound care specialist opined
that the plaintiff exhibited signs and symptoms
of the infection which should have been
recognized by the defendant podiatrist. The
plaintiff alleged that adequate diagnostic
testing would have led to diagnosis and
antibiotic treatment which would have prevented
the ultimate amputation of the plaintiff's leg.
The plaintiff was fitted with a prosthetic leg.
She was 51-year-old single woman with no
children at the time of the amputation. The
plaintiff was employed as a shipping clerk for a
maritime shipping company. She returned to work,
but was terminated for unrelated reasons. The
plaintiff obtained another position in the
clerical field and was working at the time of
trial. The plaintiff's life care expert opined
that the plaintiff will not be able to maintain
her job and will become virtually unemployable.
Plaintiff's counsel requested $5 million in
total damages during closing statements.
The defendant denied that the plaintiff
exhibited redness, a fever, open foot wound or
any other sign of infection at the times in
question as she claimed. The defendant testified
that there was some redness on the plaintiff's
foot on the second of the three visits.
The defense also stressed that the symptoms
alleged by the plaintiff were not recorded in
her medical record. The defendant contended that
she made a reasonable diagnosis of stress
fracture based on information that the plaintiff
had injured her foot while she was walking her
dog.
The defendant's infectious disease expert
testified that necrotizing fasciitis is a
rapidly progressing infection and that the
condition developed in the plaintiff's foot
sometime after her visit to the hospital
emergency room on July 15, 2007. The defense
maintained that the infection was not present at
the time the plaintiff was last seen by the
defendant podiatrist. The defense also argued
that the plaintiff could live independently and
work.
The jury found no negligence on the part of the
defendant which was a legal cause of injury to
the plaintiff. The defendant waived attorney
fees and costs. The plaintiff waived post-trial
motions or an appeal.
Result: Defendant's verdict
Plaintiff Expert: Curtis Wagner, DPM, Orlando, FL
Defendant Expert: Defendant's infectious disease
expert: Edward Chapnick from Brooklyn, NY
Published in: Volume 5, Issue 12
