When Fort Wayne police officer Benjamin MacDonald took Patrick R. Fluker into custody in the early morning of Sept. 3, 2010, he noted in his report that the then-19-year-old said he hadn’t hurt anyone.A Steuben County couple has sued a Fort Wayne orthopedics firm, alleging a missed diagnosis for a blood clot caused the wife to lose her leg.
Filed in Allen Superior Court this week by Jeanette Presley and Allen Presley, the lawsuit against Orthopaedics Northeast seeks compensatory damages and comes after the couple received a ruling from the state’s Medical Review Panel that Orthopaedics Northeast failed to comply with appropriate standards of care, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Jeanette Presley went to Orthopaedics Northeast three times in March 2006 with the signs and symptoms of a vascular problem in her leg.
But the medical staff did not diagnose the vascular problem, instead injecting her knee on two of the visits, according to court documents.
On April 10, 2006, Jeanette Presley was admitted to Parkview Hospital for the loss of blood flow to her right foot and a large acute blood clot in the artery that supplies blood to the knee and the thigh, according to court documents.
A doctor amputated Jeanette Presley’s leg above the knee April 14, 2006.
Jeanette Presley contends Orthopaedics Northeast fell below the required standard of care by failing to test for the loss of blood flow in her foot after noting a lack of pulse, reddened foot and reports of unexplained pain. She also was not given a timely referral to a vascular surgeon or cardiologist, according to court documents.
Officials at Orthopaedics Northeast did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
