Wisconsin nurse charged for lopping off dying man's foot to display in taxidermy shop: report

On Monday, The Daily Beast reported that a Wisconsin nurse is facing charges after she amputated a dying man's foot without permission — with the intent to display it in her family's taxidermy shop.

"Mary K. Brown, 38, worked as a hospice nurse at the Spring Valley Health and Rehab Center, where the unidentified victim was brought last March with severe frostbite in both feet, KSTP reported," reported Justin Rohrlich. "At the end of May, doctors reportedly believed the man was close to death and Brown — who planned to preserve and display the foot in her family’s taxidermy shop as a reminder for people to wear their boots, according to WQOW — cut off the man’s necrotic appendage without his consent or a doctor’s order, the complaint states."

According to the report, Brown denies she intended to display the necrotic foot in her family's shop, saying she only performed the procedure to ensure the patient was comfortable.

However, according to WQOW, "Several witnesses told authorities Brown cut the victim's right foot off on May 27, which was necrotic and being held on by some skin and a couple of tendons. Brown and several witnesses said Brown did not have a doctor's order or permission to cut the foot off. The victim also never asked to have his foot cut off."

Brown could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted on the two charges of physical abuse with intention to cause great bodily harm — with up to six additional years per charge, due to the crime involving the elderly.

This comes after other high-profile cases of alleged gross medical misconduct, including an anesthesiologist in Texas accused of tampering with IV bags, causing a string of medical incidents at his hospital including the death of a colleague.