Daniel E. Holloway
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Emory Decatur complaint alleges phlebotomy errors before compartment syndrome

The complaint alleges that a patient presented to Emory Decatur Hospital for pre-operative laboratory work and that a phlebotomist attempted to draw blood from the right arm multiple times, allegedly reusing the same needle and continuing despite the patient’s request to stop. The patient developed swelling, cellulitis, compartment syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, and MRSA infection, required emergency fasciotomy and later scar-revision surgery, and suffered ongoing injury from the alleged phlebotomy errors.

System
Emory Healthcare
Facility
Emory Decatur Hospital
Providers involved
Emory Healthcare, Inc. / Emory Decatur Hospital / Angelia Baker, phlebotomist
Pattern
Alleged multiple needle sticks, needle reuse, and failure to stop a blood draw after patient complaints
Harm
Alleged compartment syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, MRSA infection, emergency fasciotomy, scarring, and tissue contracture

Overview

This page concerns a public complaint alleging that negligent phlebotomy practices at Emory Decatur Hospital caused compartment syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, MRSA infection, and multiple surgeries.

Chronology

The complaint alleges as follows:

  1. The patient presented to Emory Decatur Hospital on January 24, 2023 for pre-operative lab work before a scheduled foot surgery.
  2. A phlebotomist attempted four needle sticks on the patient’s right arm and reused the same needle for multiple attempts.
  3. The patient reported extreme pain and asked the phlebotomist to stop and try the other arm, but the blood draw continued.
  4. A surgeon noted redness, swelling, and cellulitis extending toward the armpit on January 25, 2023.
  5. On January 26, 2023 the patient presented to an emergency room with worsening symptoms and was diagnosed with compartment syndrome, necrotizing fasciitis, and MRSA.
  6. An emergency open fasciotomy was performed on the right forearm and later scar-revision and soft-tissue-advancement surgery was required.

Alleged failures

The complaint alleges the following failures:

  • The phlebotomist failed to properly clean the patient’s arm before multiple needle sticks.
  • The phlebotomist reused the same needle during multiple attempts.
  • The phlebotomist failed to honor the patient’s request to stop the blood draw on the right arm.
  • The phlebotomist failed to call for assistance after multiple unsuccessful attempts.
  • Emory Healthcare and Emory Decatur Hospital failed to properly train and supervise the phlebotomist.

Entities and tags

Emory Healthcare, Inc.Emory Decatur HospitalAngelia BakerPhlebotomyBlood drawNeedle reuseCompartment syndromeNecrotizing fasciitisMRSAFasciotomyInfectionSurgical errorHospital laboratory servicesInfection controlEmergency surgery