Necrotizing fasciitis (also called “flesh-eating disease”) is a true medical emergency that requires fast diagnosis and immediate treatment. When healthcare providers delay identifying or properly treating this infection, the results can be devastating.
If necrotizing fasciitis is caused by medical negligence, and you or someone you love suffers harm, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim. A Fort Lauderdale medical malpractice lawyer can help you gather evidence and fight for a fair settlement.
What to Do If Necrotizing Fasciitis Is Caused by Medical Negligence
If you believe you or a loved one developed necrotizing fasciitis because of a medical error, take these steps:
- Get a second medical opinion: See another qualified doctor right away to confirm the diagnosis and prevent the infection from spreading further.
- Preserve all medical records: Keep copies of test results, treatment notes, and discharge summaries. These documents can help establish what went wrong.
- Document your symptoms and timeline: Write down when your symptoms started, when you sought medical help, and what treatments you received.
- Avoid direct communication with hospitals or insurers: Anything you say could be used to weaken your claim. Let an attorney handle those conversations.
- Contact a medical malpractice lawyer: An experienced lawyer can investigate your case, gather evidence, and pursue compensation for your losses.
Taking these steps promptly can help preserve crucial evidence and strengthen any potential medical malpractice claim.
How Necrotizing Fasciitis Develops
Necrotizing fasciitis occurs when bacteria enter the body through a cut, burn, surgical wound, or other break in the skin. Once inside, the infection spreads rapidly along tissue layers beneath the skin. Without prompt medical care, the affected tissue begins to die, leading to severe pain, swelling, and systemic infection that can become life-threatening. Common causes include:
- Bacterial infection: Group A Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, and certain other bacteria are often responsible.
- Open wounds or injuries: Cuts, insect bites, or post-surgical incisions can serve as entry points.
- Compromised immune systems: People with diabetes, cancer, or chronic illness face higher risks.
- Hospital-acquired infections: Improper sterilization or poor hygiene in medical settings can allow dangerous bacteria to spread.
Because necrotizing fasciitis progresses so fast, doctors must recognize symptoms early and act decisively. If your care team failed to do so, you have the right to take legal action.
How a Medical Mistake Can Cause Necrotizing Fasciitis
Necrotizing fasciitis itself is an infection, but medical errors can play a role in how it develops, worsens, or goes untreated. Some of the most common medical mistakes linked to this condition include:
- Failure to diagnose the infection quickly: A doctor might mistake necrotizing fasciitis for a minor skin infection or cellulitis, delaying the aggressive treatment that could save tissue and prevent sepsis.
- Delayed surgical intervention: When doctors do not perform emergency surgery to remove dead tissue right away, the infection continues to spread and can become fatal.
- Poor infection control: Hospitals and surgical teams that fail to follow strict sterilization procedures may expose patients to harmful bacteria.
- Medication errors: Administering the wrong antibiotic or failing to give antibiotics soon enough can make the infection worse.
- Postoperative negligence: Ignoring signs of infection after surgery, such as unexplained pain, swelling, or fever, can allow necrotizing fasciitis to develop unchecked.
These errors can have serious consequences. When these errors occur, they often qualify as negligence.
Signs That Necrotizing Fasciitis Was Caused by a Medical Mistake
If you suspect negligence led to your infection, these warning signs can indicate that something was mishandled in your care:
- Your symptoms were ignored or downplayed: If you reported severe pain, swelling, or redness and your provider brushed it off as minor, that could indicate negligence.
- You weren’t given antibiotics or surgery in time: Delayed treatment is one of the most common medical errors in these cases.
- The infection developed after a recent surgery or hospital stay: Hospital-acquired infections can sometimes be traced to poor sterilization or procedural errors.
- Multiple providers missed the diagnosis: If you saw several doctors and none recognized necrotizing fasciitis, it may point to a systemic breakdown in care.
- You needed amputation or reconstructive surgery: Severe outcomes caused by late intervention can suggest a preventable medical mistake.
These signs don’t prove malpractice on their own, but they are strong indicators that your case deserves investigation.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Necrotizing Fasciitis Caused by Medical Negligence?
Several parties can be held responsible for a case of necrotizing fasciitis linked to medical negligence, including:
- Doctors: A physician may be liable for failing to diagnose the infection or delaying critical treatment.
- Surgeons: If a surgical wound was contaminated or not properly monitored afterward, a surgeon could be at fault.
- Hospitals or clinics: Poor sanitation, inadequate staffing, or a lack of infection control policies can make a facility liable.
- Nurses or medical staff: Failure to monitor wounds, change dressings, or report changes in a patient’s condition can contribute to liability.
- Laboratories: Misread test results or lost samples that delayed diagnosis could make a lab partially responsible.
Liability may extend to any party whose actions or inactions contributed to the infection or delayed care. Determining responsibility often requires a thorough investigation of everyone involved in the patient’s treatment. An attorney can assist you with that.
Contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney
Necrotizing fasciitis is one of the most aggressive and harmful infections a patient can develop. If you believe that your infection (or that of someone you love) was caused or worsened by a healthcare provider’s mistake, a medical malpractice lawyer from Anidjar & Levine can help you pursue compensation. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.
Book a free case review to start building your claim.
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