Man sues WRHA, doctors after wrong leg amputated at Grace Hospital in 2024

A man whose left leg was mistakenly amputated — rather than his infected lower right leg — at the Grace Hospital in 2024 has filed a lawsuit against the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and two doctors involved in his care.

Jason Kennedy, who lives in Winnipeg and is a member of Bloodvein First Nation, filed his statement of claim in Court of King’s Bench last week, naming the WRHA and orthopedic surgeons Dr. David John Dillon and Dr. Yiyang Zhang as defendants.

He accuses the health authority and doctors of negligence and breach of duty, among other allegations.

Kennedy was 48 when he went to Seven Oaks General Hospital on Oct. 22, 2024, with pain and an infection in his right foot.

He was diagnosed with right foot osteomyelitis, which is a bone infection, and bilateral extremity cellulitis, which is a skin infection, his court papers say.

On Oct. 30 that year, Kennedy had a catheter inserted into his left arm to treat his right-foot infection with intravenous antibiotics, the court claim says.

While staying at Seven Oaks, Kennedy was referred to Zhang, the consulting orthopedic surgeon at the Grace Hospital, the lawsuit claims.

“Dr. Zhang was informed that the plaintiff had right foot osteomyelitis and bilateral extremity cellulitis and that the referral was for him to perform or arrange a right below-knee amputation,” reads the claim.

Kennedy was transferred to the Grace for a surgery consultation and potential surgery on Oct. 31, the court papers say. Zhang was his physician of record.

That same day, Dillon performed a below-knee amputation on Kennedy’s left leg, the court papers say, despite the relevant documentation and diagnostic imaging identifying his right foot.

“No contemporaneous pre-transfer record identified the plaintiff’s left lower extremity as requiring amputation,” the lawsuit alleges.

Further, the court papers claim, Kennedy either never consented to the amputation of his left leg, or any “purported consent” to the left-leg amputation was verbal only and was never signed by Kennedy, was done after he was sedated, after he had expressed he did not think he could proceed with the surgery and premised on the erroneous representation that his left leg was the one that needed amputating.

“Upon awakening from anesthesia, the plaintiff discovered that his left leg had been amputated and that his infected right foot remained attached,” reads the lawsuit.

The next day, Kennedy claims, Dillon informed him that the amputation was the result of the diagnostic imaging of his right foot being mistaken for imaging of the left.

He was then returned to Seven Oaks, where he still required treatment for his right foot, the court papers say.

On Nov. 22, 2024, the WRHA, through Grace Hospital officials, disclosed to Kennedy that the processes for surgery preparation and consent did not follow standard procedures for the amputation, which was deemed a critical incident, the claim says.

Kennedy accuses Dillon of medical battery for the amputation. If it’s found he did improperly consent to the surgery, he accuses all the defendants of negligently failing to obtain his informed consent.

He says he has suffered permanent physical and psychological injuries as a result of the amputation, including ongoing pain and mental-health effects.

He has also significantly lost mobility and needed to use a wheelchair while waiting for a prosthetic fitting and rehabilitation, and continues to require help with daily living.

Kennedy says he now faces an increased risk of requiring the amputation of his right leg, which is still being treated.

He’s seeking unspecified general and aggravated damages, medical costs, special damages for medical care and loss of income, interest and court costs.

The WRHA and the doctors have yet to reply to the claim in court.

Shortly after Kennedy’s leg was amputated, Manitoba First Nations leaders called for an investigation into the circumstances.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca