Sepsis is a term that describes a severe illness caused by infection in the body. Often referred to as a systemic illness, the infection spreads throughout the body via the bloodstream. Although the original source of the infection is often undeterminable, it may begin from otherwise moderately benign infections such as pneumonia, an open bedsore (decubitus ulcer), or a urinary tract infection. Left untreated, this systemic infection can be lethal. Generally speaking, a patient who develops an infection is at risk, if that infection goes untreated, for developing sepsis. Initially, a patient may only experience the symptoms of a localized infection (for example, in the case of an open pressure ulcer/bed sore, the wound may be inflamed and reddened). Thereafter, as the infection spreads beyond the local area, a patient can experience such symptoms as a fever, whole body chills and even a change in neurological function. Lastly, most ominously, a patient's body will exhibit signs of shock and dysfunction including extremely low blood pressure (hypotension), shock and organ failure.

Unfortunately, deaths related to untreated or undiagnosed sepsis are becoming all too common. Sadly, many of these deaths occur even while a patient is being monitored in a hospital's intensive care unit. By and large, medical malpractice cases arising out a septic death stem from the health care provider's failure to diagnose an underlying infection and/or properly interpret the signs and symptoms that strongly indicate that infection is becoming systemic in nature. Although the potential sources for the initial infection are many, our office has extensive experience in "sepsis cases" in which the original infection occurred as a result of negligence surrounding a patient's catheter care (failure to properly clean and sterilize the catheter) and negligence in allow a patient to develop serious bed sores (decubitus ulcers) following a hospital procedure that left them bedridden for a period of time. In each of these instances, patients developed an infection that went undiagnosed (but was otherwise treatable), became septic, and ultimately died. These injuries and deaths are preventable in most instances. If you believe that a physician may have negligently permitted a loved one to develop an infection and/or allowed a infection to become septic and cause septic related injuries or death, contact the lawyers at STSW for a free consultation.