A pedicure cost a man his big toe

MUNCIE, Ind. — Several beauty salons in Indiana have been fined and placed on probation over the alleged use of razor devices and scalpels to remove calluses from customers' feet.

Kenneth Jackey developed an infection in his right foot that resulted in the amputation of his right big toe after receiving a pedicure at a salon in Anderson, Ind., according to the state board of cosmetology.

On March 30, 2015, Jackey received a pedicure at Nail Art in Anderson.

After his feet were soaked in warm water, Nail Art's Khanh Bui used what Jackey described as a scalpel to cut away heavily callused skin on his right foot, which he compared to "peeling a potato or an apple."

Indiana law prohibits salons from using razor devices to shave, reduce or remove calluses because they can cause bleeding, potential infections and remove healthy skin as well as dead skin.

In a separate incident, Bruce Walters, a customer of the T-Nails salon in Muncie, Ind., developed an infection that nearly cost him his life and his leg, a lawsuit alleges.

T-Nails is continuing to vigorously defend an unrelated lawsuit in Delaware County brought by Muncie resident Walters, who was hospitalized for three weeks and underwent five surgeries after getting a pedicure at T-Nails on June, 23, 2013.

The lawsuit claims "medical providers universally determined" that the infection started in his right big toe that was gouged during a pedicure by an unsanitary instrument. The pedicure nearly cost Walters his life and his leg, the lawsuit claims.

T-Nails denies gouging Watlers' toe, and also denies allegations that it was negligent, that it used an unsanitary instrument, and that it injured the man. The parties have agreed on a mediator but the dispute remains scheduled for a five-day trial starting Dec. 4.

T-Nails also was placed on indefinite probation and fined $750, for failing a state inspection in 2014. An inspector had cited T-Nails for maintaining a razor device, maintaining waxing equipment within the manicuring service area, and employing two unlicensed workers.

Other nail salons around the state of Indiana facing complaints of using credo blades, aka pedicure razors, include Lovely Nails, Evansville, and Lovely Nails, Carmel, which recently paid a $250 fine. State authorities say Lovely Nails in Carmel fully cooperated and took immediate corrective action. The complaint against the Evansville salon remains pending.