Diagnosis Delays and Claiming Compensation for Necrotising Fasciitis
The speed with which diagnosis is achieved and treatment introduced is crucial if the patient is suffering with necrotising fasciitis. If medical professionals do not respond appropriately, leaving the patient to suffer, it may be possible to make a claim for compensation.
Necrotising fasciitis destruction
This terrible soft-tissue infection has the capacity to destroy a life with alarming speed and a prompt diagnosis is fundamental to survival and long-term well-being.
If either diagnosis or treatment are delayed, it is almost inevitable that the patient will suffer. Spreading through the body rapidly, necrotising fasciitis causes the decay and destruction of the tissue it inhabits.
A delay in diagnosis and treatment will mean that the infection is likely to have spread, causing more tissue loss and the need for more extensive surgery to resolve the infection.
A delay may also mean that the patient is more likely to die from this appalling illness.
The impact of a delay in diagnosis or treatment
At best, necrotising fasciitis leaves a patient suffering tissue loss and scarring and facing the need for reconstructive surgery.
At worst, the patient may die.
In between these extremes, there is an appalling array of distressing and debilitating ways in which this shocking infection can destroy the body and distress the mind.
A patient with necrotising fasciitis may suffer the partial or total loss of a limb, affecting almost every aspect of their life.
They may suffer damage to the genitals and the bowel, affecting sexual function or requiring the fitting of a stoma.
They may develop sepsis and associated long-term health problems as well as struggling with the psychological impact of this shocking illness.
Claiming compensation for medical negligence
Medical professionals can delay the diagnosis and treatment of this shocking infection through a failure to recognise or suspect the possible symptoms of intense pain, swelling, tenderness and discolouration in the region of a wound or cut to the skin or an abscess.
If this has been the case with yourself or a loved one, consult a legal specialist to check whether it would be appropriate to make a claim for compensation.
If your life has been adversely affected, by loss of employment for example, a successful claim would take into account any financial losses caused by the negligence.
Legal specialists
Glynns Solicitors is a dedicated medical negligence legal practice.
Contact us today to talk to a specialist solicitor, free of charge, about the possibility of making a claim for compensation.
Please call us free on 0800 234 3300 (or from a mobile 01275 334030) or complete our Online Enquiry Form.