When doctors see patients who suffer from symptoms that are unusual or difficult to diagnose, doctors will often consult others in the medical community or advise a patient to see a specialist in order to make sure patients’ conditions are properly diagnosed and treated. Failing to take these steps when necessary and failing to follow the advice of other doctors could result in a missed diagnosis or a wrong diagnosis.
Sometimes a missed diagnosis results in fatal injuries. Other times, it could result in permanent injuries that harmed patients must live with for the rest of their lives. This happened to an Illinois patient about two years ago. His foot was amputated after his doctor told him he had contracted a dangerous infection in his foot. However, the patient discovered after the amputation had been performed that the operation was not necessary. The patient is now suing the doctor for damages.
According to the lawsuit, the patient sought treatment from his doctor after he had developed an infection in his foot. The doctor consulted an infectious disease physician to discuss the patient’s condition, and the infectious disease physician suggested that the infection could be treated without amputating the patient’s foot. However, the patient’s doctor did not inform him about the recommendation from the other physician, the lawsuit states, and the doctor removed all of the man’s toes from his foot.
After learning that his foot did not need to be amputated, the patient decided to proceed with a lawsuit against his doctor for failing to properly evaluate his infected foot. The lawsuit argues that the doctor should have followed the advice that had been provided by the infectious disease specialist and that the doctor should have also informed the patient about the specialist’s recommendation.
Since the incident, the patient has suffered disfigurement and pain. He also incurred unnecessary medical expenses due to the unnecessary amputation. He is seeking at least $50,000 in damages.
Source: The Madison-St. Clair Record, “Foot amputated unnecessarily, suit claims,” Kelly Holleran, Dec. 6, 2012
- Our firm provides counsel to Illinois patients and their families who have been harmed by similar incidents of medical malpractice like the incident discussed in today’s blog post. To learn more about our firm and practice, please visit our Joliet medical malpractice lawyer page.
