Doctor injected multiple women with rubbing alcohol instead of numbing medicine before yanking off ingrown toenails, lawsuits say

An Oregon doctor has been accused of using rubbing alcohol as a local anesthetic while yanking off a patient's ingrown toenails for the second time this year.

Judith Young is now the second Portland-area woman to file a lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente and the clinic in Hillsboro where she and another woman, Sarah Blackman, were allegedly injected with 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol "in lieu of a local anesthetic."

Young's complaint, which was obtained by Law&Crime, involves allegations similar to those in the complaint Blackman filed over the summer. Young's lawyers are seeking $23 million — $10 million more than Blackman sought.

In its July 24 response to Blackman's complaint, Kaiser's legal team admitted that Blackman "underwent bilateral toenail removal of her second toes on each foot … and that [the doctor] unknowingly injected isopropyl alcohol into her toes during the procedure, rather than lidocaine, and that this was a violation of the standard of care by one or more of the defendants who do not deny liability for same."

The complaint names Judith Young's husband, Jason Fleskes, as a plaintiff, although the defendants noted that they "can neither admit or deny whether plaintiffs are or were ever married at this time," according to the filing.

Young was "in agony" when the accused doctor proceeded to pull the two lateral portions of her toenail "with no anesthetic," her complaint says. She was allegedly screaming and crying while telling the doctor "she was in terrible pain," but says the doctor did not care to check why.

"[The doctor] did not reevaluate why the injections were so painful, nor did he determine whether plaintiff's toe was numb prior to pulling her toenails," the complaint says. "Instead, he proceeded with the bilateral procedure despite her obvious agony. He then told Ms. Young that the area of injection of what he represented was local anesthetic, could blister. This is not known or recognized complication … 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, on the other hand, does cause a chemical burn with blistering."

In the 16 weeks after the procedure, Young returned to the Kaiser emergency department with "terrible pain in the foot" that "could not be adequately controlled with oral medications and worsening of the tissue death on the toe," the complaint says. "At no point was she admitted to Kaiser for IV antibiotic treatment or pain management," according to her attorney, Laura Kalur, who is also representing Blackman.

"Over the next approximate four months, Ms. Young required ongoing wound care and debridement and multiple office visits," the complaint says. "[Young] endured excruciating pain as well as being barely able to walk and unable to work due to the wounds and the pain."

Young's medical complications have included "severe and permanent injuries, including but not limited to chemical burn injury and necrosis of the treated toe; loss of tissue and disfigurement; permanent nerve injury, numbness … burning, chronic pain; permanent deformity of the toe; bone injury, severe and permanent arthritis causing fusion of the bones in the toe; loss of range of motion and joint function; impairment of weightbearing and walking due to wounds and severe pain; inability to work for months at her job requiring her to be on her feet the majority of the day; painful wound care treatment; debridement; ongoing podiatric care; psychological injury, including nightmares, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and depression for which she is receiving mental-health treatment; and other injuries to be proven at trial," the complaint says.

Blackman's complications were very similar, with the accused doctor being "in a rush" to leave work when he injected her with rubbing alcohol, according to her complaint.

The doctor was supposed to administer lidocaine into each of Blackman's second toes, but he instead "proceeded to pull the plaintiff's toenails with no anesthetic," according to her complaint.

"Blackman … begged that the second toe not be treated," the complaint says. "[The doctor] told plaintiff she should 'just get it over with' and that he was in a rush to get out of the clinic."

Blackman says that the doctor did not reevaluate why the injections were so painful, nor did he determine whether she was numb prior to pulling her toenails. "Instead, he told Ms. Blackman to hold still or the needle could go through the toe and proceeded with the bilateral procedure over her protestations," her complaint alleges.

Blackman says she went home and followed her aftercare instructions, but the pain from the procedure did not go away. Her toes were allegedly "very painful and had a constant sensation of burning and throbbing," per the complaint. Her feet allegedly began to swell and turn red, with the skin on her two treated toes beginning to "change color" and "ooze" as the skin appeared to be coming off.

The same thing allegedly happened to Young.

"Her toe was very painful and had constant sensation of burning and throbbing and then her foot began to swell and turn red and the skin on her treated toe began to blister from the chemical burn and change color," Young's complaint says. "Young is diabetic and was immediately concerned about the development of the wound to the toe and the impact of diabetes on wound healing."

Kalur told Law&Crime that Young's case reflects a "shocking pattern of negligence and failure" of the standard of care by a Kaiser provider, and "further failures by the health system" to be accountable for its actions.

"Kaiser's refusal to be forthcoming about this has been disappointing and distressing to the Youngs," Kalur said. "Similar to the case of Sarah Blackman, they have not received any letter of explanation from Kaiser about how this occurred. … We are still trying to determine if other members of the community have suffered similar harm and would encourage anyone who has to contact our office."

Kaiser has not responded to Law&Crime's requests for comment.