Parents sue grandmother and healthcare providers over girl's partially amputated finger

The parents of a girl say her grandmother and a Glen Carbon doctor caused the child's finger to be amputated.

Tara Palmer and James Gorman, individually and on behalf of their minor daughter, filed a lawsuit Jan. 18 in Madison County Circuit Court against Dr. Staci Young, Jeanne Hannah and Andover Healthcare Inc.

According to the complaint, Palmer and Gordon's daughter went to Young Pediatrics in February 2011 for a blood test. After taking blood from the girl's left middle finger, a staff member allegedly wrapped the child's finger an elastic bandage. The girl was sent home with her grandmother, Hannah, the complaint states.

Palmer and Gordon say their daughter's finger remained wrapped in the elastic bandage for several days. When the wrapping was eventually removed, they claim the finger was necrotic. They say part of the girl's finger had to be amputated, a procedure performed at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis.

The parents claim the girl's finger was wrapped too tightly to allow blood to flow properly to the end of her finger. They say she was also sent home without any instructions for care. They contend the child's grandmother failed to check the tightness of the bandage and failed to remove it day it was put on.

Palmer and Gordon accuse their daughter's doctor and her grandmother of negligence. They also claim Andover Healthcare, the maker of the bandage used on the girl's finger, was negligent in manufacturing a product that would restrict blood circulation.

Palmer and Gordon ask for more than $150,000 in damages for medical expenses and costs of the lawsuit.

They are represented by attorney Thomas O. Falb of Alton.
 
Madison County Circuit Court Case No. 13-L-93