In an order dated December 21, 2010, Oxford attorney Reed Martz successfully defended, on behalf of his client, a worker's compensation claim involving a below the knee amputation stemming from a foot infection in a long-time employee.  The employee  claimed that his required steel toe boots rubbed a blister on his foot which subsequently became infected and, due to complications from his pre-existing uncontrolled diabetes, required multiple amputations to save his life.  Through a painstaking review of the evidence discovered during the investigation of the claim, Martz was able to show numerous inconsistencies in the Claimant's story as well as medical evidence that his progression of symptoms was consistent with an infection which resulted in a boil which the Claimant mistook for a friction blister and not a blister which later became infected. 

The Claimant has appealed.

*** Update.  The Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission, by Order dated August 8, 2011, has unanimously affirmed the administrative judge's dismissal of the claim.  While agreeing with the ALJ's decision in all respects, the Full Commission went a step further and found that the dismissal was also appropriate because the medical evidence did not support a causative link between the infection and the employee's work activities.  The Full Commission specifically noted that the deposition testimony of the employee's treating physician was impeached by the testimony of the operative surgeon as well as the employee's hemoglobin A1C reading.