Embolism Caused by Lack of Care, a Patient Believes
12-10-2014 01:05:00


SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - (CN) - A woman went to Kaiser with a branch in her ankle. Kaiser did not get it all out, and the patient had a pulmonary embolism, she claims in a complaint filed in San Bernardino County Court.

Linda Pina sued Kaiser Foundation Hospitals Inc; Southern California Permanente Medical; Kaiser Foundation Healthplan; Mohammad Namazian D.O.; Kristen Nguyen M.D.; and Darren Moore P.A. for medical malpractice.
Pina had stepped on a branch so hard it went into her ankle. At Kaiser, the branch was removed and her wound was cleaned, but no x-ray, other diagnostics, or treatment was provided, she says.
Pina woke up in "excruciating pain," and called her primary physician for stronger pain medication. The doctor told her to go to Kaiser and she went to the one in Fontana, where the radiologist did not find the part of the stick that was found later, according to the complaint.
Next, a doctor ordered a sonogram of the "wrong part of the foot," and that they would correct this, but no one ever followed up, Pina says.
Two weeks later, with continued ankle pain and swelling, Pina insisted on a sonogram, where parts of the branch were found, the complaint states.
Two surgeries did not get all splinters out, however, and Pina was having trouble breathing, plus chest pressure, she claims.
When she went to the emergency room "she was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism likely caused by the (sic) blood clot in her lower extremity that broke loose and traveled to the lungs," according to the complaint.
Pina seeks a jury trial, and is represented by James L. Meier of Santa Ana.

CIVDS1413481