Christie v. Walton
Christie v. Walton
Opinion of the Court
plaint, among other things, that the burn which she ' had received was so severe that eight or ten square
inches of the skin on her foot was deadened and destroyed; that the bones of the ankle and instep were scorched, charred, burned and deadened; that the only cure or safe course in the treatment of such injury was the amputation of the foot, or the grafting of skin over the parts which had been burned after the removal of the deadened and charred parts of the bones; that she first went to a hospital and secured the services of Dr. George Denny, a competent physician; that then she went-to the home of a relative to wait until the foot was ready for operation; that there she placed herself under the care of appellant, who undertook to treat her foot, but he failed to graft skin where the skin had been destroyed;.that, as a result of such improper treatment and unskilful and negligent conduct of appellant, the foot did not heal and was not -cured, and that it became useless, deformed and drawn, and subject to suppurating sores; that although she told him the advice and suggestions she had received from Dr. Denny, he told her they were unsound and that he could cure her foot without skin grafting, and without the removal of the charred bones, by the use of Scarlet Red salve, and by tricks and artifices kept Dr. Denny from visiting her; that appellant negligently and unskilfully continued to use his Scarlet Red salve, which was not adapted for use on a burn of such degree, but was a remedy for superficial burns where the bones were not deadened or large parts of skin destroyed; that he negligently failed to observe that his Scarlet Red remedy was insufficient for the purpose for
By a supplemental complaint it was alleged that since the filing of the complaint the foot and,ankle became further diseased on account of appellant’s negligent and unskilful conduct; that in order to prevent blood poison and the further impairment of her health and to save her life, it was necessary to amputate her leg above the ankle, and that such amputation would have been prevented, if defendant had properly treated the limb by removing the deadened portions of bone and grafting skin.
The complaint sufficiently states a cause of action on the theory that appellant improperly diagnosed the ease, from a want of skill or care, and used an improper remedy, and continued to use it after he should have observed that it was ineffectual, and that such treatment made her condition worse. It is also averred in the complaint that the grafting of skin after the removal of the charred bones would have been a proper remedy in the ease. Longfellow v. Vernon (1914), 57 Ind. App. 611, 105 N. E. 178; 30 Cyc 1570.
Note.—Reported in 113 N. E. 750. Physicians and surgeons: (a) care and skill required, 1 Ann. Cas. 21, 306, 14 Ann. Cas. 605, 30 Cyc 1570; (b) sufficiency of complaint to charge negligence, 59 L. R. A. 209, 30 Cyc 1583.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.