This is the fourth post in “infection malpractice week” and it is about a very deadly condition which is caused when an infection is left undiagnosed and untreated. Sepsis often leads to wrongful death for young children or elderly patients. Learn more about sepsis and how it can be caused by Minneapolis medical malpractice so you know how to protect your rights.
Sepsis is a medical emergency that is life-threatening and often fatal. It is a massive and widespread immune response by your body to a large bacterial infections that gets into your blood. This triggers inflammatory responses throughout your body to fight the bacterial infection as almost a “last ditch effort” to kill the bacteria. However, the response is so strong and powerful that is often results in damage to your body or organs.
Sepsis can be caused by medical malpractice in several ways. The first and most obvious is when a patient presents with the classic signs and complaints of an infection but the infection is undiagnosed. This allows the infection to grow and fester, potentially spreading throughout the body. When the infection manages to get into the circulatory system and infect the blood, a septic response is often what happens. Now that a patient has sepsis, the treatment for the infection differs greatly, the damage to the person’s body increases significantly, and the chance of causing death multiplies. Patients with an infection in a hospital should never get to the point of sepsis if there is proper medical care.
The second instance where sepsis injuries can be caused by medical malpractice is when a patient’s sepsis is misdiagnosed or there is a delay in diagnosis. To an untrained or inexperienced healthcare provider, sepsis can be difficult to identify because it has symptoms like many other major health emergencies. However, a properly trained medical professional should be able to quickly identify sepsis as the medical emergency that it is and order the appropriate and aggressive treatment needed. When there is a delay in treatment is a misdiagnosis in treatment, it can result in serious injury or death of a patient.
Since sepsis is a major medical emergency, Minnesota medical malpractice in the care and treatment of sepsis can lead to horrific and devastating injuries. Victims of sepsis that were improperly treated may have a strong claim for damages and injuries. Some common injuries caused by misdiagnosed or mistreated sepsis include the following:
If you or a loved one have been injured due to the medical malpractice of a healthcare provider such as a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other health care service professional, call Kuhlman Law, LLC for a FREE consultation by dialing (612) 444-3374 to learn what your rights to compensation may be. If we accept your case, we will conduct a thorough review of your case and advise you whether there may have been a serious medical mistake causing your injury. There is no risk, and you do not owe us money unless we win your case.