Tomio Kikuchi went to the Guam Memorial Hospital to have his injured leg treated, but ended up losing this instead.
Kikuchi, 61, would not have his leg amputated, he could die, a physician reportedly advised the sexagenarian. GMH had denied the allegations of negligence but its representative will face the plaintiff and his wife for a pre-trial conference on Nov. 19 at 10 a.m.
Tomio, along with wife, Rosalie Shook Kikuchi, 65, filed a complaint for damages before the Superior Court of Guam. Lujan Aguigui & Perez law office is representing the couple.
Based on a 7-page complaint obtained by this paper, the case stemmed from a Sept. 1, 2012 incident when Tomio slipped on a wet tile in their home. As a result, he injured his left ankle. His wife then rushed him to the hospital at 3:26 a.m.
An Emergency Room physician “prescribed that Tomio’s left leg should be encased in a short fiberglass splint.”After it was done, the patient was discharged by the same physician, whose name they failed to get. The two were advised to see Dr. Jan A. Bollinger, a private orthopedic surgeon.
“When Dr. Bollinger examined Tomio on September 4, 2012, he observed that there was no padding or under layment of material between Tomio’s skin and the fiberglass splint that had been applied to Tomio’s skin and the fiberglass splint that had been applied to Tomio’s leg,” the court document stated.
Further, Bollinger noted there was extensive skin blistering over the left ankle, “with evidence of infection of the blister fluid.”
The surgeon advised the patient to return to GMH after an analysis of the blisters showed that Tomio’s ankle was infected with staphylococcus aureus, a kind of bacteria, which is resistant to antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections.
As an in-patient at GMH, Tomio was subjected to various tests including blood tests and cultures. He was also treated with anti-biotics, given whirlpool baths and underwent surgeries to stabilize the ankle and clean out the wound.
Next was a nightmare to Tomio who was informed by his attending physician that “if he did not have his left leg amputated, he might die because of the spread of blood poisoning or septicemia throughout his body.”
The patient, after consulting his family, agreed to have his leg amputated. Tomio’s counsels said that the relatively minor injury, the fractured left ankle and the subluxation of the ankle, would have not become infected, if not for the negligence of the ER physicians and personnel.
On the other hand, Rosalie is claiming a separate damage suit, citing that even their sexual relation was affected by Tomio’s health condition.
Rosalie has suffered the burden of becoming a fulltime caregiver to a person “who is now permanently disabled.” They also claimed to have been emotionally drained and depressed as a result of the alleged hospital’s negligence.
GMH has “refused to reduce, abate or forgive any portion of the medical expenses that the defendant has charged Tomio.” The couple incurred some $40,000 for medical expenses./The Junction News Team
