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Jury awards $5.4 million in amputation involving doctor errors

Amputations have been the subject of a considerable number of medical malpractice claims. Carelessness in the treatment of circulatory problems and the failure to spot advancing infections can constitute medical negligence. In addition to doctor errors, hospital negligence in New York and other states has caused unnecessary amputations when the wrong limb is amputated or even when a limb is mistakenly amputated in a surgery scheduled for some other procedure.

Doctors treating people with blood circulation problems must monitor the limb for necrosis of the tissue and associated infections. That means that the tissue in the limb dies off due to lack of blood and oxygen supply. Gangrene may set in accompanied by a ravaging infection. Action must be swiftly administered to avoid an amputation.

In a recent medical malpractice case involving an amputation, a Virginia jury awarded a total of $5.4 million to a man who lost a portion of his right foot and suffered permanent damage to the tissue and muscle below the knee. The award was against the treating physician. The court reduced the amount to about $1.8 million due to Virginia's medical malpractice limits.

The plaintiff reportedly had a sudden bout of leg pain and discoloration of the foot in 2007. He went to the defendant family physician for treatment. The doctor apparently ordered blood studies that showed blockage of blood supply, but the delay in immediate treatment made it too late to save the foot.

Much of the foot was amputated but the tissue and muscle below the knee was also permanently damaged. Plaintiff's expert testimony explained that the doctor could have determined the seriousness on the first visit. Experts testified that if he had referred the patient immediately the leg could have been saved.

In New York principles of negligence could likely result in a similar verdict of liability against the doctor. Such doctor errors are not uncommon because carelessness can overtake even the best doctors. Nonetheless, the innocent victim should not have to suffer the horrible consequences without fair remuneration for a lifetime of pain, suffering and limitation that could have been prevented by a standard level of care.

Source: newsadvance.com, Jury finds for plaintiff in malpractice suit, No author, Feb. 28, 2014

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