Sommers Schwartz attorneys Richard Groffsky and Dina Zalewski filed a medical malpractice lawsuit for a 67-year-old man whose untreated diverticulitis progressed to a life-threatening infection that ultimately cost him his leg.
The plaintiff had undergone total left knee replacement surgery in January 2024 and was prescribed narcotics for post-operative pain. After stopping his pain medication in early February, he began experiencing lower abdominal pain. On February 12, 2024, he presented to a family practice for evaluation. Bloodwork drawn that day showed a significantly elevated white blood cell count and other abnormal values, findings consistent with an active infection. The plaintiff also had a known history of diverticulitis, a condition in which small pouches that form in the colon wall become inflamed or infected. Despite these results, no follow-up was initiated on the abnormal labs, and the patient was referred to a gastroenterologist for further evaluation.
On February 28, 2024, the plaintiff saw a gastroenterologist who reviewed his case and discussed possible causes of his abdominal pain. Despite the plaintiff’s documented history of diverticulitis, his elevated white blood cell count, and his ongoing symptom pattern, the gastroenterologist scheduled a CT scan for nine days later, on March 9, with no urgency designation. No repeat bloodwork was ordered. No antibiotics were prescribed or started. The plaintiff went home and waited.
The standard of care for a patient presenting with a known history of diverticulitis, an elevated white blood cell count, and lower abdominal pain required a more urgent response. The gastroenterologist should have ordered repeat laboratory work, recognized that an urgent CT scan was warranted given the clinical picture, and initiated broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics to contain the infection and prevent abscess formation. Had the physician properly identified and addressed the diverticulitis and any existing abscess at that visit, through antibiotics and drainage where indicated, the complaint alleges the devastating complications that followed would more likely have been avoided.
When the CT scan was performed on March 9, the results were alarming. Imaging revealed a 4.4-centimeter abscess next to the sigmoid colon, a complication of diverticulitis, along with extensive soft-tissue gas spreading through the left thigh, groin, flank, and left psoas muscle over a region greater than 40 centimeters. The radiologist identified the findings as consistent with necrotizing fasciitis, a rapidly spreading bacterial infection that destroys soft tissue and can be fatal without immediate surgical intervention. The findings were flagged as critical, called to the gastroenterology practice, and the plaintiff was directed to go to the hospital right away.
After arriving, the plaintiff was critically ill, with a rapid heart rate, dangerously low blood pressure, and septic shock. Emergency surgery began the following day. Surgeons performed a left lower extremity amputation with left hip disarticulation, meaning the removal of the entire left leg at the hip joint, along with removal of part of the colon and the creation of a colostomy. He required multiple more operations over the following weeks for abdominal washout, wound debridement, and closure. He spent more than a month hospitalized and was transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation unit before being discharged home with nursing care on April 12, 2024.
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