Gwinnett Woman Files Lawsuit Over Flesh-Eating Bacteria

DACULA, GA — A Gwinnett County woman who had both legs and an arm amputated as she battled a flesh-eating bacteria has filed a lawsuit, saying doctors should have recognized the deadly bacteria sooner.

Cindy Martinez, and her husband David Martinez, filed the malpractice suit in Gwinnett County state court on Monday, according to a news release from their attorney.

It names Dr. Minkailu Sesay, North East Georgia Physicians Group, Inc., Northeast Georgia Physicians Group -- Urgent Care, LLC, and other corporate entities.

In the summer of 2015, Martinez underwent amputation of both of her legs below her knees, her right arm above the elbow, large amounts of tissue and muscle on her left back and side, and portions of each of the fingers on her left hand.

She had suffered a skin infection which progressed to sepsis, severe sepsis, septic shock and necrotizing fasciitis, according to the news release.

She sought care on May 24, 2015, at Northeast Georgia Urgent Care on Dacula Road in Gwinnett County.

Her lawsuit alleges that her vital signs and symptoms should have alerted medical professionals to the seriousness of the situation but that, instead, the doctor and nurses on duty allowed the condition to progress, ultimately leading to her amputations.

"I’ve never been involved in a lawsuit before, and I’m nervous about it, but I don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else," Martinez, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and mother of two, said in the news release.

The lawsuit alleges that Martinez's past medical expenses have exceeded $1.6 million and that her future medical and life care expenses will cost as much as $8 million. It also claims she will incur about $2 million in lost wages for the rest of her life.

A message to Northeast Georgia Urgent Care seeking comment for this story was not immediately returned.