Keeping Your Feet On the Ground

“You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

When your feet are hurt, the doctor you seek out is a podiatrist.  Podiatric medicine is a specialty that deals exclusively with feet and ankle disorders.  Any breach in the standard of care may result in disfigurement to a patient.  A medical professional who chooses this specialty is known as a podiatrist and is allowed only to treat the feet and ankles of a patient. Just like any other physician or surgeon, they have a duty to their patients. Any breach or deviation in the standard of care in podiatric medicine may result in further injury or disfigurement to a patient and should be investigated to determine whether the podiatrist was negligent in his treatment. If you have recently visited a podiatrist and are now recovering from further injury as a result of his treatment, consider retaining a Missouri medical malpractice attorney. Like any other doctor, they should be held accountable for their negligence.

From Ingrown Toenails to Gout

A podiatrist treats a variety of ailments related to the foot, ranging from ingrown toenails to gout. Some treatments are medicinal only, while other more serious ailments may require surgery. Steroid injections such as cortisone are common to help ease pain and swelling in the foot but should only be administered for a short period of time as it may cause secondary injury. A Missouri podiatrist lost a jury trial for injecting too much steroids into one of the tendons of a patients foot. As a result the patient now has a condition known as foot drop, where the muscles in the foot are too weak to flex and the individual is resorted to dragging the foot in order to walk. The jury recognized that the podiatrist was negligent in not following the standard of care and awarded $579,000 to the plaintiff.

When Diabetes Affects the Feet

Diabetic patients often seek the help of a podiatrist to treat the foot symptoms of their disease. Failing to diagnose significant blood loss to a foot can cause serious complications and lead to amputation. A Pennsylvania man was awarded one million dollars by a jury when his podiatrist ignored his complaints of foot pain. Despite the known effects of diabetes to a patient’s foot, this man’s podiatrist did not check underneath a cast to verify that gangrene had not set into the foot. By the time it was diagnosed properly the foot was far too infected to be saved and the entire lower leg of the plaintiff was amputated just below the knee. If you are a diabetic patient, it is imperative that your podiatrist do routine checks on your toes and feet. If you develop gangrene while under his care that results in the loss of a toe or limb, ask a Missouri medical malpractice attorney if the treatment of your disease was negligent in any way.

Winning Your Deserved Compensation

Medical malpractice cases involving such a specialty as podiatry can be considerably more difficult than other types of malpractice suits. The specialty has its own type of insurers who are armed with a slew of foot disorder experts to help defend their case. You will need the expertise of a Missouri medical malpractice attorney who has at hand their own array of expert witnesses in order to fight back and win your deserved compensation.

Call Zevan and Davidson Law Firm at (314) 588-7200.

Photo credit:  felipe_gabaldon