When you entrust the life of your loved one to a surgeon, you expect him or her to receive the best care possible. A successful surgical procedure gives you a sense of relief, but then your loved one’s condition takes a turn for the worse.
The doctor told me my family member died from sepsis. What does that mean?
That means that your family member contracted an infection that led to sepsis. This serious medical condition puts your life and future health at risk. An infection in the body causes the immune system to react by sending white blood cells to combat it. In sepsis, this immune system response triggers inflammation that restricts blood flow that ultimately damages organs without timely medical intervention.
Sepsis spreads rapidly, and if left unchecked endangers your life through organ failure, low blood pressure and a weakened heart. Treatment needs to begin immediately to avoid lifelong or deadly health consequences. By the time doctors diagnosed your loved one with sepsis, the damage to one or more organ systems more than likely already occurred.
How did my loved one get sepsis?
Sepsis only occurs when a bacteria is introduced into the body. Invasive medical procedures often provide bacteria with a way into your body. Coupled with a weakened immune system, the bacteria create a perfect storm leading to sepsis. If your loved one suffered from one of the following chronic conditions, the chances of sepsis increased:
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Any other chronic illness
In the alternative, if he or she suffered some sort of physical trauma or a severe burn, the chances of contracting sepsis rose as well.
Why did it take so long for the doctor to make the right diagnosis?
The symptoms of sepsis can mimic other, less dangerous, ailments. However, if the potential for contracting sepsis is high due to a surgical procedure or other risk factors, your family member’s condition required careful monitoring. Failure to recognize the signs, or to dismiss them as something else, more than likely delayed diagnosis and put your loved one at greater risk.
Treating sepsis often requires a stay in the Intensive Care Unit and aggressive antibiotic treatment even when no long-term or permanent damage results from the experience. Unfortunately, the delay in diagnosis and subsequent treatment probably contributed to the death of your loved one.
What are your legal options if negligence played a role in your loved one’s condition or death?
Consider exploring your legal options if you believe the medical personnel responsible for the care of your family member failed to provide the best care possible and failed to meet current standards of care, which led to your loved one contracting sepsis. Because medical professionals routinely hold people’s lives in their hands, their mistakes often result in catastrophic health consequences for victims and their families.
Allowing even one medical professional’s errors to go unchecked risks the lives of every patient with which he or she comes into contact. A successful medical malpractice claim that established negligence not only provides you with the financial resources needed to compensate you for your loss, but also often helps prevent future mistakes.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sepsis and Medical Negligence
What is sepsis and why is it dangerous after surgery?
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s response to an infection becomes dysregulated, causing widespread inflammation that can restrict blood flow and damage organs throughout the body. After a surgical procedure, the risk of sepsis can increase because invasive medical techniques provide pathways for bacteria to enter the bloodstream. Patients with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, kidney disease, or liver disease face a particularly elevated risk. Without timely diagnosis and aggressive treatment, sepsis can progress to septic shock, multi-organ failure, and death.
What symptoms should doctors recognize as early signs of sepsis?
Clinicians are trained to watch for a cluster of indicators that may signal a developing sepsis response. These include a high fever or an abnormally low body temperature, a rapid heart rate, fast or labored breathing, confusion or altered mental status, and a significant drop in blood pressure. After a surgical procedure, post-operative patients require monitoring precisely because these symptoms can develop quickly and are sometimes initially attributed to normal surgical recovery. When clinicians dismiss or fail to investigate these warning signs in a high-risk patient, a delayed diagnosis can allow the infection to progress to a far more dangerous stage.
Why might a doctor delay in diagnosing sepsis after surgery?
Sepsis symptoms can initially resemble less serious post-operative conditions, which can lead providers to attribute warning signs to expected recovery discomfort rather than an escalating infection. Inadequate communication between nursing staff and treating physicians, failure to order appropriate lab work in a timely manner, or insufficient patient monitoring protocols can each contribute to a delayed diagnosis. When a patient is already known to be at elevated risk due to chronic illness, prior infection, or the complexity of the surgical procedure, the applicable standard of care requires heightened vigilance.
What legal options do families have when a loved one dies from undiagnosed sepsis?
Texas law allows families to pursue a medical malpractice claim when a healthcare provider’s failure to meet the applicable standard of care results in harm or death. In a sepsis case, this can mean demonstrating that the provider failed to adequately monitor the patient, failed to recognize or investigate warning signs in a timely manner, or failed to initiate appropriate treatment before the condition became fatal. A successful claim may provide compensation for medical expenses, the family’s loss, and related damages. Families considering legal action should consult with a Houston medical malpractice attorney promptly to preserve evidence and comply with Texas procedural requirements.
How long does a Texas family have to file a medical malpractice claim?
Under Texas law, most medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years of the date of the injury or the date of the patient’s death. Texas also requires that plaintiffs serve a Chapter 74 expert report on each defendant within 180 days of filing a lawsuit. Missing either of these deadlines can permanently foreclose a family’s right to pursue a claim. Because case preparation, including gathering medical records and consulting with qualified medical professionals, takes time, speaking with a Texas medical malpractice attorney as early as possible after a loved one’s death is strongly advisable.
