From The Midland Reporter-Telegram July 25, 1996
By Gary Shank
ODESSA- A New Mexico man who lost his leg has filed a lawsuit against Medical Center Hospital in Odessa and the Fischer Mangold Group, which contracts with the hospital to supply emergency room physicians.
The lawsuit, seeking $5 million in actual and exemplary damages, was filed Tuesday in Midland at the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas.
Attorneys for Steven Edward Albers allege that medical staff at the hospital failed to properly diagnose and treat a tibial plateau fracture on July 11, 1994.
The tibial plateau is located on the upper portion of the shin bone (tibia) that flares out to support the structures of the knee, according to information from the University of Washington School of Radiology.
Three days after his injury, Albers was taken to surgery where Dr. William George Reilly opened the skin in order to fix the break. During the surgery, Reilly used a tourniquet to abate blood flow for more than three hours, according to Heidi Jaquish, a spokeswoman for the Dallas law firm of Morgan & Weisbrod.
Following the procedure, Albers developed fever, numbness, swelling, burning, a prickly sensation in his left leg, and decreasing ability to move his toes on that side. This was later determined to be "impending compartment syndrome," according to medical notes from the case.
In compartment syndrome, swelling causes decreased blood flow to muscles and other tissues which leads to further swelling and further loss of blood flow eventually killing the tissues.
On July 16, Albers underwent a four-compartment fasciotomy, where the skin and connective tissue compartments covering muscles were cut open to relieve the pressure from swelling, she said.
On July 19, he underwent a debridement surgery where dead tissue was cut away from healthy tissue. This operation was repeated on July 21.
With Albers' insistence, he was transferred to Hermann Hospital in Houston on July 22.
There he underwent hyperbaric oxygen treatments where his body was subjected to a high-oxygen environment at greater-than-sea-level barometric pressures. She said this did not revitalize the tissue of his lower leg, however, and after multiple debridement procedures, Albers' leg was amputated below the knee and skin grafts put into place.
"Because of the complexities in treating this type of injury, Mr. Albers should have been immediately transferred to a trained specialist," said Albers' attorney, Larry Smith, who also is a licensed medical doctor with Morgan & Weisbrod. "Had that happened Mr. Albers would have probably experienced a full recovery."
No court date has yet been set for the case.
A spokesman for Medical Center Hospital in Odessa declined comment stating hospital policy against any open discussion of court cases.
