Christa Bledsoe Non-treatment of active MRSA infection caused her death

Your Name: Wayne Bledsoe

Patient’s Name/Relationship: Christa Bledsoe (my mother)

City/State: Spokane WA

When did event occur (what year)? 2018

Where did event occur? Other Location

What type of medical harm did you experience or witness? Delayed Diagnosis or Misdiagnosis

Please describe what happened. My mother, age 83 at the time (spring 2017) had knee replacement surgery. A few months after that she developed a blood clot in the same leg which in turn led to reduced or blocked blood flow to her foot. In this condition, after falling several times & we took her to see a doctor who dismissed the problem. The toe got worse & we went to the emergency room – she shortly there after ended up having to get a toe amputated as well as needing arteries to be removed from one leg & then transferred to the damaged leg. This led to a MRSA infection which was initially controlled with antibiotics. This year, she had a hip replacement. The doctors stopped her MRSA antibiotics for the surgery & did not continue the treatment for her prior MRSA infection after the successful hip replacement. I saw her 3 weeks ago in her normal high spirits with no sign of problems. However, one week later the assisted care facility had her rushed to Valley General Hspt, septic with a 104 fever. Within 2 weeks of this, she died (April 3rd, 2018) of MRSA & multiple internal organ failures.

What was the outcome of the medical harm issue? Death