A man was awarded a settlement after a two-year long legal battle against the manufacturer and distributor of a cryotherapy device. The plaintiff was prescribed cold therapy and was sent home with a portable cryotherapy unit following ankle surgery. The surgery was to repair a torn tendon and to flatten his heel bone.

A portable cryotherapy unit is a motorized ice chest that pumps ice water through a tube into a bladder that is applied to an affected body part. The device is designed to reduce swelling and help speed up the healing process after certain surgeries.

A representative of the product met with the patient’s wife to explain how the device works. The representative told her to put fresh ice in the cooler every 6-8 hours and to keep it at its medium setting. He also instructed her to put a barrier between the device and the patient’s skin.

He told her, “the unit cannot be used too much” and to keep it on him constantly until he returned for his first scheduled post-op visit four days later. The rep then handed her a one page written summary, which repeated all of his instructions.

The couple says they followed the instructions provided by the rep. Four days later, the surgeon removed the cryotherapy bladder and discovered a severe cold injury had developed. The patient experienced symptoms similar to those of a frostbite injury.

Over the next two years, the patients lost two of his toes and fought off three life threatening antibiotic-resistant infections. He also developed blood clots in his lungs and one in his foot, and had to have his leg amputated below the knee. He had to undergo two more surgeries following the amputation due to loose bone and difficulty healing. He later developed a condition known as ITP. The condition can lead to stroke and death, as it causes the body’s immune system to kill off its own platelets.

After exhausting other more conventional treatments, the patient underwent chemotherapy to re-start his immune system. In the meantime, he acquired the H1N1 virus and pneumonia and almost died. In all, he spent more than 180 days in the hospital, was admitted five times to four different institutions and ran up medical bills in excess of $2 million.

John M. O’Brien & Associates, P.C. sued the manufacturer and the product distributor under theories of negligence and strict liability. The defendants retained multiple experts to refute that the client suffered a cold injury and to refute that continuous cold therapy can even cause a cold injury.

After two years of hard fought legal battles, the case settled three days before trial. The details of the settlement are confidential.

For more information about potential cryotherapy injuries, or to speak with an attorney about your circumstances, contact our law firm today.