A student athlete and his parents are suing his doctors and hospitals nearly a year after a flesh-eating bacteria led to the amputation of his legs.
Steven Haxton, 19, and his parents have filed medical-negligence lawsuits against doctors for Ohio Health Corp., Riverside Methodist Hospital and Ohio State University Medical Center in the Ohio Court of Claims and Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
The lawsuits each seek damages in excess of $25,000 against more than 15 doctors, their companies and the two hospitals.
Blake Haxton was a captain of the Golden Bears rowing team last year when pain in his lower calf muscle sent him to the Riverside emergency room in March. Doctors diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis, a rare strep infection that can spread under the skin. Four days later, he was on life support and was flown by helicopter to OSU Medical Center.
Doctors amputated both his legs above the knee, the lawsuit says. Haxton was given less than a 20 percent chance of survival. He recovered after nearly 20 surgeries.
The complaints, say that Blake Haxton’s care fell below accepted medical standards at Riverside and that the Haxtons were not properly informed of a treatment plan. The family has hired a Tennessee doctor for his expert opinion, according to court documents.
The family named the OSU Medical Center in its suit because it employed a physician-in-training who cared for Haxton at Riverside. The suit was not claiming Haxton received improper care at OSU.
OSU denied the allegations in an answer filed this week in the Court of Claims.
“The Haxtons are focused on returning their son to a normal living situation,” said their attorney, Gerald Leeseberg. “They have added a handicap-accessible addition to their home; he is enrolled at Ohio State and attending rehab.”
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