Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written to illustrate an example of a medical malpractice case. Reviewing this kind of lawsuit should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court. It is worth noting that situations similar to those described in this medical malpractice case could just as easily occur at any of the healthcare facilities in the area, such as Kaiser Permanente, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco General, California Pacific Medical Center, or St. Francis Memorial Hospital.
(Please also note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this personal injury case and its proceedings.)
TEXT:
CASE INFORMATION
FACTS/CONTENTIONS
According to Plaintiff: Plaintiff, a 52-year-old Operations Manager, presented at defendant Physician’s office on February 7, 2008 with pain in his left foot, due to having taken a misstep a day or so before. Plaintiff had Type-II diabetes and had been treating with defendant since June 2006 for diabetic foot care relating to his right foot.
On February 7, defendant diagnosed a Lisfranc fracture, with possible Charcot, placed him in a walking boot and sent him home, telling him to stay off the foot as much as possible.
On February 12, plaintiff returned on an urgent basis because of greatly increased pain in the foot. Defendant removed the walking boot and found a large blister covering the entire top of his foot. She drained and debrided the entire blister, creating a 2.5″ x 3.5″ open wound on the dorsum of the foot.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.
Defendant wrapped the left foot tightly in a “Unna boot,” a gauze material impregnated with medication. Specifically, she wrapped the wound in multiple layers under three different types of elastic and gauze bandages and made an appointment for plaintiff to return four days later on February 16. She did not prescribe any antibiotics.
During the next four days, plaintiff experienced extreme pain and fevers. His wife made repeated calls to defendant’s office to report his worsening condition but never got to speak with defendant. On February 15, plaintiff’s wife was told by the office that she could either take plaintiff to an emergency room or wait to see defendant the next day. They elected to return to defendant for continued care.
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.