CHARLESTON – A Hernshaw man blames medical negligence of two podiatrists for him ultimately having his big toe amputated.
Timothy Anderson filed his complaint in Kanawha Circuit Court against Dr. Scott Glassburn and Dr. Carrie Frame.
According to the complaint, Anderson had pain in his right big toe in July 2018 and sought treatment from Glassburn. Glassburn diagnosed him with hallux rigidus, and he performed a joint fusion on Anderson, who was 45 at the time, in October 2018.
At the prescribed follow-up appointments five and 12 days after surgery, Anderson’s wound looked good. The sutures were removed.
But 17 days after surgery, a small opening of the wound occurred. He was given a care routine to follow and told to follow-up in a week or two.
On November 5, 2018, Anderson returned to Glassburn’s office because the wound was a little red, and he was experiencing pain and burning at the wound site. Glassburn said the wound opening had healed, and he wanted a two-week follow-up. On November 19, 2018, Anderson was prescribed a topical gel, but no antibiotics were given.
Two weeks later, Anderson still had pain and burning at the wound site. But Glassburn didn’t take steps to check for possible infection and told him to continue using two topical gels.
On December 10, 2018, Anderson returned with burning and throbbing at the incision. Glassburn placed local anesthetic into the wound and dressed the wound, but he did take cultures, order bloodwork or prescribe an antibiotic.
A week later, Anderson returned and told Glassburn “he felt like his foot was going to explode” because of increasing pain. Glassburn scheduled a debridement, or cleaning of the wound, for December 20, 2018. Glassburn did clean the wound and closed it again, but did not obtain cultures. He put Anderson on Keflex for 10 days.
Anderson had at least four more visits with Glassburn through January 16, 2019, when he told Glassburn he was going elsewhere for a second opinion. Through the entire treatment, Anderson says Glassburn never performed blood tests or wound cultures to rule out the possibility of infection.
On January 22, 2019, Anderson saw Frame for the first time. She felt the issues were caused by the hardware within the joint. She wanted to replace the hardware in the joint, and did so February 8, 2019. She also took biopsies, which showed two types of infections.
Following continued treatment and follow-up visits, Frame performed an incision and drainage, bone biopsy and allograft placement on March 22, 2019. Cultures again showed infection.
On April 3, 2019, Frame decided the best option was to go back into surgery and remove the hardware again. That happened the next day. He had four more follow-up visit with Frame.
On May 9, 2019, Anderson had a CT scan that showed erosive changes. He was referred to Dr. Sandra Young-Elliott, an infectious disease specialist. She recommended further bone removal. Frame did that and placed antibiotic medicine in the location.
Biopsies showed candida, a fungal infection. And pathology showed acute osteomyelitis that was continuing.
Anderson had at least 17 follow-ups with Frame through September 2019. On September 23, 2019, he consulted with Dr. Douglas Dockery, another podiatrist, about a possible right big toe amputation because of the intolerable pain and infection.
The amputation was performed October 9, 2019. On June 9, 2020, Anderson had another CT scan that showed chronic damage and possible osteomyelitis. Another procedure a few weeks later confirmed the chronic osteomyelitis.
On July 1, 2020, Dockery performed a revision amputation and debridement. Pathology showed fragments of bone, and cultures showed ongoing infection. Anderson continues to see Dockery and worries about ongoing reflex sympathetic dystrophy and/or ongoing osteomyelitis.
Anderson accuses Glassburn and Frame of medical negligence that led to the amputation of his toe, pain and suffering, physical and mental and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, lost wages as well as medical and other expenses.
He seeks compensatory damages, pre- and post-judgment interest and other relief.
Anderson is being represented by R. Dean Hartley and Mark R. Staun of Hartley Law Group PLLC in Wheeling. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit.
Kanawha Circuit Court case number 20-C-1054
