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Woman Sues Hospital After Developing Disease That Required Amputation Of Her Fingers, Toes

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A woman has filed a lawsuit against City of Hope National Medical Center after she claims doctors failed to give her vaccinations that could have prevented her from developing a life-altering disease.

Janet Garner, a 49-year-old mother-of-three, and her husband Stefan held a news conference Thursday at 10 a.m. at The L.A. Hotel Downtown.

The couple filed the lawsuit against the medical center and the doctors who treated her in Sept. 2004 when Garner went to the hospital in need of a bone marrow transplant.

"The hospital and medical staff chose to ignore their own written procedures and did not give her the required pneumococcal vaccinations following the transplant," attorney Moseley Collins said. "As a result, Janet developed pneumococcal sepsis which caused all of Janet's toes, many of her fingers, and parts of both feet to be amputated."

The remainder of her feet may need to be amputated in the future due to chronic wounds.

Garner says the soles of her feet are skin over bone.

"Every step is painful. It feels like walking on sharp rocks," she said. "It's really hard. I feel helpless and useless."

City of Hope Medical Center declined CBS2/KCAL9's request for an on-camera interview.

In a written statement, a spokesperson said: "Providing the best possible treatment for all patients is City of Hope's highest priority. In observance of federal and state privacy regulations, we will not comment upon any individual patient."

Garner and her husband now say they look at photos of how life used to be and think about photos with their children that will never be taken.

"I can't walk on the beach with them... I just can't do it. And I just hope they're going to be OK. It's hard, they're precious," she said.

The trial is set to begin in L.A. County March 16, 2015.

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