Charleston woman blames Holzer Clinic for foot injuries

CHARLESTON -- A Charleston woman is suing Holzer Clinic after she claims it was negligent in caring for her foot injuries.

Holzer Hospital Foundation, which is doing business has Holzer Medical Center; Dr. Fred Pulido; Dr. Mohammad Imani; and Dr. Jeffrey Shook were also named as defendants in the suit.

On Feb. 23, 2009, Stephanie Bego presented to Pulido for a scheduled surgery to correct a hammertoe deformity of her bilateral second toes, according to a complaint filed April 18 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

Bego claims after Pulido performed the surgery, he inserted pins to stabilize the re-alignment of her toes.

On April 13, 2009, during the course of removing the pins, Pulido observed that the pin he removed from Bego's left foot was significantly shorter than the pin removed from her right foot, according to the suit.

Bego claims when she questioned Pulido about the different lengths of pins and asked for x-rays to make sure nothing had broken off inside of her foot, he only took Polaroid pictures of her foot.

Extremely concerned about the adequacy of medical treatment she was being provided by Pulido, Bego sough out another medical provider to provide her post-surgical treatment, according to the suit.

On Feb. 10, 2010, Bego claims she presented to Imani as a result of the continued sharp and stabbing pain she was experiencing in her left foot.

Bego claims Imani ordered x-rays and after reviewing them, reported to her that the pin had broken off in her left foot and appeared to be embedded in the bones in her foot.

Imani advised Bego to not have surgery to remove the pin, but to have physical therapy and pain management instead, according to the suit.

Bego claims she was not convinced that allowing the pin to remain in her foot was appropriate and decided to see a third physician about having the pin removed.

On March 16, 2010, Bego met with Shook, who scheduled a surgery to remove the pin from her foot, according to the suit.

Bego claims one month later she had the surgery.

During the surgery, Shook "evidently decided not to remove the pin from the plaintiff's foot and, instead, decided to allow the piece of pin to remain within the plaintiff's left foot," according to the suit.

Bego claims the defendants failed to remove the piece of pin in her foot and caused her significant pain and suffering.

Bego is seeking compensatory damages with pre- and post-judgment interest. She is being represented by Charles M. Johnstone and Sarah A. Stewart.

The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Louis H. Bloom.

Kanawha Circuit Court case number: 11-C-632