An Austin law firm has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a local woman claiming she almost lost a foot due to the alleged negligence of an Odessa doctor.
According to the lawsuit filed Monday in Ector County District Court, Vickie Emfinger went to Dr. Abdul-Qader Alarhayem on Feb. 5, 2022, because she’d been vomiting for two days and had “terrible pain in her feet.”
The following day, Emfinger went to Excel ER and was transported to Medical Center Hospital with cold and discolored extremities. According to the lawsuit, Alarhayem told her she had blood clots in her leg and groin and placed her on Heparin, an anticoagulant.
The lawsuit states that medical records show Emfinger’s left foot was improving on Feb. 9, but the blood flow to her right foot had been reduced because of an arterial blockage.
Alarhayem discharged her from the hospital after switching her to Eliquis, another anticoagulant, the lawsuit stated. He also made a Feb. 23 follow-up appointment with her.
According to the lawsuit, Emfinger called the doctor’s office numerous times when her toes started turning black and sent him pictures. She alleges she was told Alarhayem had seen the pictures, saw no difference in her feet from when he discharged her and didn’t want to see her until Feb. 23.
On Feb. 23, the lawsuit states Emfinger showed him blisters and he told her to see a podiatrist to amputate her toes. The lawsuit also stated he told Emfinger she couldn’t have any blood clots due to the anticoagulants she was on.
Within a matter of days, Emfinger sought the advice of Lubbock doctors and they found she had a blockage, the lawsuit stated.
“They had to do significant wound care and treatment to save her right foot and one of the toes of her left foot,” the lawsuit stated. “This should have been diagnosed and treated by Dr. Alarhayem.”
According to the lawsuit, Alarhayem endangered Emfinger through medical negligence by failing to properly diagnose and treat her prior to discharging her from the hospital and failing to see her within days of her leaving the hospital.
Her attorneys, Laura and Lance Sharp, allege the doctor should have seen her and treated her after seeing the pictures or he should have referred her elsewhere at that point.
Emfinger is seeking unspecified damages for past and future medical expenses, past and future pain, suffering, disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of life, plus past and future loss of earning capacity.
A call to Alarhayem’s office detailed the doctor is no longer with Procare and that he has left the West Texas area.
