facebook
Over 100 Years Of Service

Man claims medical malpractice resulted in his leg amputation

On Behalf of | Sep 18, 2018 | Doctor Errors

Most people are aware that an infection can result in a fever, fatigue and other unpleasant symptoms. Some may not realize that inadequate treatment and management of an infection can result in serious life-threatening conditions such as sepsis or gangrene. Patients in Massachusetts may be interested in one man’s lawsuit against an urgent care doctor. The lawsuit is in another state and claims that the man suffered from medical malpractice resulting in his amputated leg.

The man noticed an open wound on the bottom of his foot and sought medical advice from a doctor at an urgent care. The doctor ordered some oral broad-spectrum antibiotics and sent the patient home. In many cases, broad-spectrum antibiotics work well on several types of bacteria, but in other cases, bacteria may require a specific antibiotic treatment. In order to know what antibiotic to use, many doctors use lab work and cultures of infection to make a treatment determination. The man’s lawsuit claims his wound was not cultured and no other labs were drawn.

A week after taking the prescribed antibiotics, the man claims he was advised by the doctor by phone to give the antibiotics time to work. He claims at the time that the infection had spread, preventing him from being able to walk on the affected foot. The following week, the infection had spread throughout the man’s body and had resulted in gangrene of the man’s foot tissue. The man had to have his leg amputated below his knee.

Unfortunately, the man’s life and quality of life was forever altered. His lawyers claim that all of it could have been prevented by a more thorough diagnosis and earlier intervention. Patients in Massachusetts who have faced similar cases of medical malpractice may find the advice of an attorney helpful.