Olympia man suing Veterans Administration after he contracted MRSA

[unhappycamper]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/02/23/3063195/vet-leg-cut-off-due-to-negligence.html



Steven Garletts of Olympia is suing the Department of Veterans Affairs after treatment in 2011 for a broken ankle led to his contracting an antibiotic-resistant infection. Doctors eventually amputated his right leg.

Olympia man suing Veterans Administration after he contracted MRSA
By ADAM ASHTON
Staff writer
February 23, 2014 Updated 20 hours ago

A Vietnam veteran living in Olympia is suing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs two years after a severe bacterial infection he developed while receiving care at the system’s Seattle hospital led to the amputation of his right leg.

Steve Garletts alleges VA doctors were negligent in their care over a three-week stretch in late 2011. It began when he sought treatment for an ankle fracture he suffered in an accident at his Alaska home. He took a turn for the worse when he contracted an antibiotic-resistant MRSA infection.

The former Marine is seeking unspecified compensation for his traumatic injuries, disfigurement and loss of earning capacity.

“I came in with a simple fracture and I came out without a leg,” Garletts, 65, said in an interview this month.