Man Claims He Lost His Leg Due to Kaiser's Improper Wound Care
8-10-2016 00:29:00


BALTIMORE, Md. (CN) – A diabetic man claims he had to have his leg amputated above the knee because Kaiser doctors did not properly treat a wound on his foot, in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

         Erik Newell sued Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group P.C., Debra Javins PAC, and Nathanael Dayes MD for medical malpractice.
            Newell says he saw a Kaiser podiatrist on July 6, 2015, for an ulcer on his foot. After removing a “foreign body” from the ulcer, the podiatrist debrided the wound, applied an antibiotic pad, and prescribed him an antibiotic to take at home.
            About a month later, he saw defendant Javins at a follow-up appointment, who determined that the wound was healed and uninfected. But at a second follow-up, she noted a new small wound and ordered an x-ray of his foot and a medical boot to help him keep his weight off the wound, according to the complaint.
            Though the wound got bigger, was noted to have drainage of both blood and blood serum, and was not healing on its own, Javins did not take a culture, do a vascular check or prescribe antibiotics, “all of which are violations of the standard of care,” the complaint states.
            Instead, she put his foot in a Total Contact Cast, a special cast for diabetic foot ulcers, and told him to come back in a week. Newell says that, given his history of uncontrolled diabetes and the instructions for the cast, he should have been seen again much sooner.
            Before he could go to his appointment, his wound became infected and smelly. He went to urgent care and was transferred to an outside hospital, where his leg was amputated above the knee, the complaint states.
            Newell claims that Dr. Dayes, who oversaw Jarvins’ work, should have noticed that he was being given substandard care and intervened. Had he received proper treatment, he could likely have avoided the amputation, Newell says.
            He seeks at $30,000 in damages.
            He is represented by Michael Sanders with D’Amoure Personal Injury Law of Annapolis. 
24-C-16-003982