A woman in California is suing a hospital where she received a bone marrow transplant after she later had to undergo an amputation as a result of medical negligence during the procedure. The medical malpractice suit was filed last week.
The Case
The woman had a bone marrow transplant in 2004, which was successful. However, she alleges that the hospital where the procedure was performed did not provide her with vaccinations she needed after the transplant. The plaintiff later developed pneumococcal sepsis and had to have all of her toes, parts of her feet, and most of her fingers amputated. The amputation occurred in the ICU of a different hospital in 2011. The wounds resulting from her partial amputations of the feet will not heal, so she may require amputation of her feet entirely in the future.
The plaintiff alleges that she developed pneumococcal sepsis as a result of the first hospital’s failure to give her required vaccinations after her bone marrow transplant in 2004. While the transplant itself was successful, the lack of ancillary treatment eventually led to further complications. The pneumococcal sepsis needed to be treated using drugs that led a lack of circulation in her extremities, after which the only possible treatment was amputation.