INSTEAD of providing a blanket to a dialysis patient, a nurse at St. Jude Renal Care facility placed a heat lamp beside the patient’s left foot that later burned the left foot, according to a civil complaint filed in Superior Court.
Pilar Manglona Deleon Guerrero, represented by attorney Michael Dotts, sued St. Jude Renal Care for negligence, negligent supervision, negligent training, and medical malpractice.
The plaintiff demands a jury trial and is seeking actual and consequential damages in an amount to be determined at trial, attorney’s fees, and other legal relief.
The plaintiff is a long-term sufferer of type 2 diabetes, and requires dialysis three times a week.
Deleon Guerrero went to St. Jude Renal Care Facility for routine dialysis sessions from 2015 to 2020, her lawsuit stated.
Dotts said his client experienced numbness in her feet to the point that she did not feel any pain. “Numbness of feet is one the most common long-term complications of type 2 diabetes. Pilar also experiences another common complication of diabetes where her wounds do not heal properly,” her lawyer added.
She is a patient who underwent scheduled treatments at St. Jude for over five years so the facility’s staff, doctor and nurses were aware or should have been aware of her diabetes and its complications, the lawsuit stated.
In February 2020, the plaintiff went to St. Jude for her routine dialysis session.
Her dialysis sessions usually lasted four hours and she could not move or walk away from the machine during a session.
This particular session in February 2020 was no different, her lawsuit stated.
During the session, Deleon Guerrero’s lower body felt cold so she asked the nurse for a way to keep warm.
“Instead of bringing sheets or blankets to cover Pilar’s lower body, the nurse brought a heating lamp and placed it right next to Pilar’s left foot. The nurse knew or should have known that Pilar experiences no feelings in her feet when the heating lamp was placed close to Pilar’s left foot. Placing a heat lamp next to a patient’s feet, where the patient has lost all sensation in in the foot, falls below the applicable standard of medical care,” the lawsuit stated.
It added that none of the nurses or staff at St. Jude, including the nurse who set up the heating lamp, instructed the patient on how to manage the lamp in a safe manner, such as contacting a nurse or checking her own feet after a certain period of time, or in case of discomfort.
“After the heating lamp was placed next to her foot, Pilar trusted and relied on the expertise and training of the medical staff at the dialysis center to care for her,” her lawsuit stated.
This should have included checking on her and removing the heating lamp when it became unsafe, the lawsuit stated.
“Due to the profound exhaustion Pilar experienced while undergoing dialysis, she fell asleep soon after the heating lamp was set up.
“The heating lamp was placed next to her feet for an extended amount of time and was not removed during the entire duration of her dialysis session. No nurse or staff from St. Jude, including the nurse who set up the heating lamp, checked on the heating lamp or the condition of her feet during the entirety of the dialysis session,” the lawsuit stated.
It added that Pilar’s left toes were visibly charred by the heating lamp, but even the smell of the burning of the human flesh did not alarm the staff and nurses at St. Jude to check on her.
“Due to the numbness in her feet and the fact that she was sleeping through the dialysis session, Pilar was not aware that her feet, in particular her toes, were burnt during the dialysis session. She discovered the burn injury at the end of the dialysis session after she woke up. She informed the medical staff and the nurse regarding her burn, but the nurses did not attempt to treat her wound or send her to the hospital all the while knowing or should have known that her diabetes would create serious complication for the healing of her burn injury,” the lawsuit stated.
It further alleged that the nurses and staff of St. Jude simply ignored the injury and discharged her from the dialysis center.
On Feb. 24, 2020, Dotts said his client went to the Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. for the burn injury she suffered on her left foot.
“After numerous visits to CHCC, Deleon Guerrero’s post-burn foot ulcer was removed on April 1, 2020. Due to complication of her diabetes, the healing process of her left foot was not successful and sometime in April 2020, the top of her second left toe fell off by itself,” the lawsuit stated.
Partial amputation of her left foot was subsequently performed on May 15, 2020.
Deleon Guerrero then had numerous follow-up appointments for her burn injury and amputation from May 2020 to December 2020 at CHCC, but the condition of her left foot did not improve following the amputation in part due to her diabetes, the lawsuit stated.
Moreover, “she developed recurrent ulceration of her left toe as a result of her initial burn injury not healing properly.”
On Dec. 29, 2020, the removal of the dead tissue on her left toe was performed, but her left toe did not get better.
On Jan. 7, 2021, an operation was performed to remove her left toe.
On Jan. 12, 2021, the plaintiff was referred to Guam to be seen by a foot specialist.
Due to series of problems originated from the burn injury she sustained at St. Jude, she went into surgery and her left leg below the knee was amputated on Guam on Feb. 22, 2021.
“The infection that caused the amputation of her left leg spread to her right leg, causing her to undergo amputation of her right leg above the knee. Soon after, due to her wounds not healing property, both of her legs were amputated a second time. The left leg was amputated a second time above the knee, and the right leg was amputated a second time to her mid-thigh,” the lawsuit stated.
Within a span of one year, from February 2020 to February 2021, Dotts said his client went from someone who could walk and do everyday tasks on her own to a double amputee who needs someone to assist her in her everyday life from feeding, cooking and personal hygiene.
An administrator at St. Jude Renal Care facility told Variety that they don’t have any statement to give right now.
