EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – A judge says the U.S. government must pay $8.6 million in damages over a Scott Air Force Base doctor's misdiagnosis of flesh-eating bacteria.
Jean Phillips is the former wife of an Air Force captain. She filed suit in 2005. In 2002, she went to the base emergency room for pain and swelling in her right arm.
Court documents say Dr. Daniel MacAlpine believed the woman was an addict looking for prescription drugs and told her to go home and take Motrin.
Weeks later, Phillips was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacteria. A bench trial was held in August.
In a decision late last month, Federal Magistrate Judge Philip Frazier faulted MacAlpine and wrote Phillips suffers "continuous, debilitating pain."
Messages left Tuesday for Phillips and MacAlpine's attorneys weren't immediately returned.
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