LVH settles lawsuit over leg amputations
Coplay man claimed delayed care resulted in the loss of his legs.
- Publication: The Morning Call
- Date: April 2003
Lehigh Valley Hospital has settled a lawsuit filed by a Coplay man who said delayed care resulted in his legs being amputated above the knees.
Melvin Billig and his wife, Winifred, of 105 S. Eighth St., had sued the hospital. Terms of the settlement reached last month in Northampton County Court were not disclosed.
Attorney Todd S. Miller of Allentown represented the Billigs.
He said he could not discuss the settlement other than that it was reached after three conferences.
Hospital attorney Richard Stevens of Allentown could not be reached.
The lawsuit, filed in 2001, gave the following account:
Two surgeons who were not used performed hernia surgery on Billig on Dec. 2, 1999.
Following surgery, Billig complained of pain and numbness in his legs. Nursing personnel told Billig to “stop your whining.”
Billig continued to complain of numbness while in the post-anesthesia unit, and hospital records indicate that his feet felt cool and he was having circulation problems.
The following day, Billig could not move his legs below the knees, and hospital personnel delayed paging a doctor to assess Billig’s decreased sensation and inability to move.
Surgeons tried to remove clots from arteries that provide blood to the legs, but the damage had been done, and both legs were amputated.
Billig was a longtime teacher at the Lehigh Career and Technical Institute.
He also worked at Lehigh University as assistant director of the physical plant in charge of construction at residence halls until he retired in late 1994. After that, he worked part-time doing light construction.
