A Florida state-court jury has awarded Rebecca Knowles $7.6 million after finding that medical providers failed to recognize and timely respond to a limb-threatening emergency following a knee injury, leading to a below-the-knee amputation. The verdict centers on care provided after Knowles presented to Cape Coral Hospital in December 2022, when a dislocated total knee replacement allegedly compromised circulation in her leg. Jurors concluded that negligence by Dr. Tyler Ensley and physician assistant Alexandria Erickson caused the loss of the leg. The case, brought in Florida’s 20th Judicial Circuit, proceeded to trial against those two providers and their employer after other initially named defendants were dismissed before trial.
Medical Timeline and Alleged Delay in Vascular Evaluation
Court documents indicate that Knowles fell on Dec. 14, 2022, dislocated her total knee replacement, and went to Cape Coral Hospital. The complaint alleges that physicians delayed performing an angiogram until the next day. In limb-threatening vascular presentations, the central factual issue often becomes whether clinicians recognized the urgency and acted within an appropriate time window; in this case, the plaintiff framed the delay as a critical lapse that allowed ischemia to progress.
When the angiogram was performed, it showed a blockage in Knowles’ popliteal artery, and the materials in the record describe significantly diminished blood flow by that point. Knowles ultimately underwent a below-the-knee amputation in January following the injury. The jury’s finding that negligence caused the amputation reflects an acceptance of the plaintiff’s causation theory that earlier diagnosis and intervention would have altered the outcome, tying the timing of vascular testing and treatment directly to the permanent injury.
Trial Defendants, Findings of Negligence, and Causation
Knowles initially sued other physicians and organizations involved in her care after the incident, but the bulk of those defendants were dismissed prior to trial. As a result, the case presented to the jury focused on Dr. Tyler Ensley, physician assistant Alexandria Erickson, and their employer, Cape Coral Emergency Physicians LLC. The streamlined defendant list shaped the trial’s allocation of responsibility, placing emphasis on the emergency-department response and decision-making surrounding vascular assessment after the dislocation.
A verdict form signed Friday reflects the jury’s conclusion that Ensley’s and Erickson’s negligence caused Knowles to lose her leg after the injury compromised circulation. In post-verdict statements, Knowles’ counsel Ryan A. Fogg of Fogg Law Group described evidence presented to jurors that the blockage went unaddressed for a significant amount of time and that earlier treatment likely would have saved the limb. Representatives for the defendants were not immediately available for comment as of Wednesday, according to the case account.
Damages Breakdown and Procedural Posture
The jury’s award totaled $7.6 million and included several distinct categories of damages. According to the verdict information, jurors awarded $524,948.18 for past medical bills and $3 million for future medical expenses, reflecting both documented costs incurred and anticipated care needs associated with the amputation. The verdict also included $128,000 for lost wages, indicating the jury accepted evidence of an employment-related economic impact tied to the injury.
Non-economic damages accounted for a substantial portion of the total, with $4 million awarded for mental anguish, pain and suffering. The suit is captioned Knowles v. Ensley et al., case number 24-CA-006215, in the 20th Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Florida. Knowles is represented by Ryan A. Fogg, and the defendants are represented by Justine D. Adamski and Louis J. La Cava of La Cava Jacobson. More broadly, the verdict underscores how juries may evaluate time-sensitive vascular complications in emergency settings when the alleged delay is linked to irreversible limb loss.
