Nova Scotia truck driver who lost foot to flesh-eating disease sues Winnipeg doctor

A Nova Scotia truck driver whose foot was amputated after he got necrotizing fasciitis is suing a Winnipeg doctor for negligence, claiming the Seven Oaks General Hospital urgent care physician failed to properly treat him.

Christopher Miners, 54, was diagnosed and had his foot amputated in Nova Scotia, but alleges that could have been averted had he received better care in Winnipeg, where he stopped at Seven Oaks hospital during a drive across the country in 2022.

He claims negligence by a doctor at the Winnipeg hospital caused the loss of his right foot, which has prevented him from continuing to work as a long-haul trucker, among other things.

Miners is suing for an unspecified amount of money, claiming damages that include loss of income, costs of care and loss of homemaking capacity. He's also seeking an in-trust award for the woman who has helped care for him since he lost his foot.

Miners had been sick for three days when he stopped in Winnipeg and contacted 911 on the afternoon of July 16, 2022, says his statement of claim, which was filed in the Manitoba Court of King's Bench on March 13.

The long-haul trucker had been on his way home to Elmsdale, N.S., north of Halifax, in his semi-trailer truck but had suffered "increased nausea, intractable vomiting and diarrhea" as well as weakness over the course of three days, the court document says.

He was taken by ambulance to the Seven Oaks General Hospital urgent care department.

Miners, who has Type 2 diabetes, also had a swollen right foot, where a small wound had improved after treatment with antibiotics several weeks earlier. There was redness radiating up his right leg from that lesion, he says in the claim.

In the urgent care waiting room, he vomited bile.

The hospital ordered blood work and found Miners had an increased white blood cell count.

He was given medication to treat his nausea, and the dressing on his right foot was changed.

Shortly after 11 p.m., about 6½ hours after he arrived at the hospital, the doctor discharged him with a diagnosis of gastroenteritis, commonly known as stomach flu, according to the statement of claim.

Drove home to N.S.

Miners was told to return if he had acute pain, fever or vomiting, and given medication to treat his symptoms if he was ill on the drive home, the claim says.

By the time Miners arrived in Halifax, his foot had swollen, and when he went for medical care, he was referred to the Queen Elizabeth II hospital.

There, it was determined he had necrotizing fasciitis and his right foot was amputated.

The lawsuit lists several steps it alleges the Winnipeg doctor should have taken to avoid that outcome, including recognizing signs and symptoms of infection, and keeping Miners under observation at the hospital. It also says the doctor failed to administer antibiotics.

The doctor has not yet filed a statement of defence.

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, which runs Seven Oaks General Hospital, said they would not comment on this story as the lawsuit is currently before the courts. The health authority was also asked to extend the request for comment to the doctor.

Miners said Monday that he could not comment on the case without approval from his lawyer.