Can I Get Compensation for an Amputated Hand?
If you have lost a hand or limb to necrotising fasciitis because your medical professionals failed to spot your life-threatening illness, you might be entitled to make a claim for compensation.
Destructive soft-tissue infection
Necrotising fasciitis is not known as the 'flesh-eating disease' for nothing. This horrific bacterial infection can spread through the body's deep tissue rapidly, destroying all it infects.
In order to try to prevent the death of the patient, this appalling illness requires that all infected tissue is surgically removed from the patient. This can result in large-scale and catastrophic loss of tissue to the extent of multiple limb amputations.
Why amputation can be necessary
Necrotising fasciitis predominantly develops in either the abdomen or the limbs. These are, consequently, the areas which then suffer from the destruction both of the infection itself and the traumatic surgery necessary to halt its spread.
If this soft-tissue infection starts in the lower limb, it can mean that the limb has to be removed before the infection is stopped. Likewise, if the infection starts in the arm or hand, they may need to be removed.
The bacteria responsible for necrotising fasciitis generally require a route of entry into the body through a wound, which can be a surgical incision for example, or a cut such as might be caused through a fall. If a cut to the hand is the route through which the bacteria travel, it is possible that the hand may be lost in an attempt to stop the infection.
Medical management of necrotising fasciitis
The key to minimising the risk of losing a finger, a hand or a limb to this shocking illness is for it to be diagnosed promptly and treated as a matter of emergency with antibiotics and surgery.
If medical professionals fail to diagnose this life-threatening infection, leading to a delay in treatment and a poor long-term outcome for the patient, they might be regarded as having provided substandard care.
Particularly where the patient has a clear route of entry such as through an abscess or abdominal surgery incision, medical professionals might be considered to have been negligent if the symptoms of necrotising fasciitis remain undiagnosed.
In these circumstances, it might be appropriate to make a claim for compensation.
Speak to a solicitor
If you or a loved one are suffering the long-term impact of an amputation due to necrotising fasciitis, contact Glynns today to talk to a specialist medical negligence solicitor.
Please call us free on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.
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