Pain Pump Law Blog : Medical Device and Malpractice Lawyer & Attorney for Local Anesthetic Infusion Pump & Post-Operative Infection Cases

In 2006, a young man who had undergone reconstructive foot surgery and developed necrotizing fasciitis (the flesh-eating disease) of his lower leg contacted me and asked if he had a legal claim. For an extended period of time, I investigated potential liability for causing and/or failing to timely diagnose and treat a post-operative infection, the diagnosis made by the man’s doctors. However, there were very little bacteria found in post-op cultures and none that typically cause necrotizing fasciitis. During this time, the man was forced to undergo the amputation of his leg below the knee.

A seemingly random comment by one of the physicians I had review the man’s medical records would alter the course of my investigation. Two days post-op, my client had experienced intense pain and swelling in his foot and contacted his surgeon. The surgeon found blistering near one of the incisions and upon popping the blisters saw that a large amount of clear fluid leaked out.  He thought this fluid might have been the local anesthetic from the pain pumps he had inserted to reduce the man’s post-operative pain. In discussing this event, the consulting physician said, “You know, I’ve never used pain pumps myself, but those local anesthetics can be some pretty nasty stuff.”

With a little bit of research, I found that numerous adverse events involving wound healing complications had been reported to the FDA and pain pump manufacturers for several years prior to my client's surgery, including a large number involving foot surgeries. I also began learning of the toxic properties of routinely used local anesthetics. I became increasingly confident that the local anesthetics infused through the pain pumps into my client’s foot were the primary cause of his devastating injuries and that the manufacturer had failed to adequately warn users of its product, including my client's surgeon, of the risk of these injuries.

In the course of my work on this case and others involving pain pumps, I’ve reviewed thousands of pages of documents including hundreds of medical journal articles on the safety and efficacy of infusion pumps, local anesthetics and toxicity, and post-operative infections; product and promotional materials from manufacturers; and adverse event reports. I’ve also consulted with numerous physicians, researchers and other attorneys. While most of the legal and public attention to date involving pain pumps has focused on the terrible shoulder injuries patients have developed from the destruction of cartilage very likely caused by local anesthetics and pain pumps, I’m concerned these devices have been and will continue to be responsible for a much broader variety of injuries, many of which are likely unreported or improperly diagnosed. I hope that by sharing my research and offering analysis of the issues raised by local anesthetics and pain pumps, individuals who have been injured by these products, other attorneys, and the general public will benefit.

Thanks for reading,

- David J. Burton