Diabetic doctor who lost leg to gangrene launches malpractice suit against podiatrist

A Pennsylvania doctor with diabetes whose leg was amputated after developing severe infection and gas gangrene is suing his podiatrist for medical malpractice. Dr. Mario Adajar, an internal medicine doctor in Wyoming, Pa., alleged that the podiatry treatment he received from Dr. Michael Baloga “caused him to needlessly suffer a right leg amputation,” according to a New York Post report. The lawsuit also names as defendants two Pennsylvania medical centres: the Foot and Ankle Center in West Pittston and the Wound Healing Center at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, where Dr. Baloga is chief of podiatric medicine and surgery. Read: Good long-term glycemic control can keep diabetics with COVID out of the ICU The complaint alleges that in December 2020, Dr. Adajar first sought treatment from Dr. Baloga for a chronic ulcer in his right foot and calluses on both feet. During this initial consultation, he told Dr. Baloga he has Type 2 diabetes and had recently undergone kidney transplant surgery. Dr. Baloga treated Dr. Adajar over several months, with interventions that included debriding the ulcer about 10 times. The wound worsened and in June 2021, Dr. Baloga decided to place a total contact cast on Dr. Adajar’s leg. The day after the cast was installed, Dr. Adajar went to a hospital emergency department, with a high fever and reporting excruciating pain around the cast. He went into septic shock over the next several days, suffered atrial fibrillation and acute hypoxic respiratory failure that required intubation. Read: Bariatric surgery for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes Shortly after he was diagnosed with gram-negative bacilli bacteremia while the ulcer in his right foot became severely infected and gangrenous. “As a result of intensive debridement and infection, Dr. Adajar never regained control/feeling of his lower limb,” the lawsuit stated. In July 2021, Dr. Adajar’s right leg was amputated. He has continued to practice medicine. “Had proper, medical intervention taken place, Dr. Adajar would not have required such intense intervention and would not have had his leg amputated... [the team] knew or should have known that a total contact leg cast was inappropriate and dangerous given Dr. Adajar's prior medical condition," the lawsuit stated. Dr. Adajar is seeking damages in excess of US$50,000 as well as arbitration costs. Read: Diabetes progression significantly higher in diabetes patients who use statins

Diabetic doctor who lost leg to gangrene launches malpractice suit against podiatrist

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