Family of Deceased Amputee to Receive $5.8 million in Malpractice Case
A Providence Rhode Island man went into surgery to fix a broken ankle and lost his leg below the knee due to medical malpractice, a Superior Court jury decided, resulting in a $5.8 million verdict. In February, 2001 William Layton’s X-rays showed he’d broken his left ankle. The doctor decided to wait a week because Mr. Layton’s ankle swelled and developed blisters. Prior to surgery a week later the orthopedic surgeon was to about to perform surgery, but neglected to look at Mr. Layton’s ankle until he was under anesthesia. When he examined the area the doctor saw the blisters had worsened, but instead of halting the surgery, he went ahead and performed the procedure. Two months later, the blisters continued to worsen and Layton eventually went to another surgeon who discovered that his foot had become gangrenous and had to be amputated below the knee two months later. Layton sued Feldman and the Orthopedic Group Inc. claiming that the doctor was negligent and failed to get informed consent from Layton before performing the surgery. Layton’s lawyers’ filing explained that Layton was diabetic and suffered from poor circulation, thus developing blisters as the ankle swelled. The doctor did the right thing by waiting a week, but failed to look at the ankle before Layton was under anesthesia in the operating room. Mr. Layton has since died from a heart attack and was not alive for the trial. After 5 1/2 weeks of trial and deliberation, the jury awarded $4.8 million for the loss of Layton’s leg and his pain and suffering, and awarded $1 million to his wife. The award will total $8.9 million with interest and will go to Elaine Layton and her three adult children.
