In this medical malpractice case, the plaintiff had a workplace accident in which he fractured both the first and second toe of his left foot.
The basis of liability is that the defendant doctor, a Board Certified orthopedist, failed to appropriately diagnose the severity of the fracture. He indicated to Mr. Dipippo that the fracture could be successfully healed with conservative (non-surgical) treatment. The doctor failed to properly document and make necessary recommendations for surgery, but proceeded to treat the patient inappropriately with conservative treatment. The attempt at conservative treatment led to the delay in a timely surgical procedure, an open reduction with internal fixation (ORIF), that was the only appropriate procedure for this type and severity of injury. This delay caused the fracture to become more difficult for subsequent successful surgical intervention. Shortly after the first surgery was done by another doctor, it was evident from x-rays that healing was not progressing well, due to the changes in the bone matrix and scarring that had already occurred, making a successful union of the fracture more difficult. Therefore, a subsequent, and more complex surgery, had to be undertaken, which held the fracture fragments together through the toe’s joint making it more likely that Mr. Dipippo would suffer traumatic arthritis.
As a consequence, Mr. Dipippo suffers from a frozen great toe and the inability to “push off” when walking, and traumatic arthritis of the great toe, leading to his inability to do the same kind of physical things that he was capable of doing before. It has also made him physically unable to return to the same job he had before the accident, thereby diminishing his earning capacity.
Had the surgical procedure been done earlier, plaintiff’s expert opined, the outcome, within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, could have reasonably been expected to be complete healing of the fracture with no residual deficits.
The matter was settled during jury deliberations for a sum with a confidentiality agreement regarding the amount of the settlement.
