Abscess Mismanagement and Compensation for Necrotising Fasciitis
Necrotising fasciitis is a deep, soft tissue infection which causes the decay of all the tissue it infects. It can spread rapidly through the patient's body, causing devastation along the way and, without timely medical intervention, can cause severe disability and even death.
The abscess and necrotising fasciitis
Generally, this appalling and life-threatening infection requires a portal of entry for bacteria to reach the body's inner tissue. An abscess can provide such a route.
A failure by a medical professional to identify an abscess or to provide appropriate and adequate treatment can leave the patient vulnerable to infection.
Treatment by antibiotics may not be enough. Draining the pus from an abscess may be required and, when this does not occur, the relevant medical practitioner may be regarded as having only provided substandard care.
If this situation results in a severe and life-changing infection, the patient may be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Every delay can cause the patient to suffer a distinctly worse outcome than may have been the case with prompt and competent medical care.
Claiming compensation
The long-term consequences of necrotising fasciitis, and the destructive nature of the surgery required to combat it, can be devastating, far outweighing the initial impact and appearance of an abscess.
The wide-ranging physical and psychological effects can render an individual unable to work and struggling to manage everyday tasks.
At best, the patient may only suffer scarring and tissue loss but, where medical delays leave the patient to struggle with this shocking infection, they may experience significant deformity, organ failure and the partial or full loss of a limb.
Where medical negligence is identified as having played a significant role in the patient's poor long-term outcome, a successful compensation claim will address the financial losses insofar as they have been caused by the negligent care.
For example, an individual who is no longer able to work or who has had to change their career due to their symptoms, thereby experiencing a loss of income, would be legally entitled to claim compensation for that loss of income.
Speak to a legal specialist
Glynns Solicitors is a dedicated medical negligence legal practice with a long-standing history of success in high-value claims.
Contact us today to talk to a solicitor, free of charge, if you are considering whether or not to claim compensation for negligent care of necrotising fasciitis.
Please call us free on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.