Oregon Sepsis Medical Malpractice Lawyers - Bend/Portland, OR

Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency which must be treated immediately and aggressively.  The failure to treat sepsis could result in serious personal injuries or the wrongful death of a victim.  Sepsis is caused when an infection in the body is allowed to go unchecked.  Commonly this is due to an undiagnosed infection or an improperly managed or treated infection.  Thus, individuals who have sepsis may already by the victims of Oregon medical malpractice.  This is why it is important to contact Oregon sepsis medical malpractice lawyers to ensure that a patient’s rights are protected.

Patients who suffered from sepsis due to a healthcare provider’s medical malpractice may be entitled to “damages.”  In an Oregon medical malpractice case, damages are commonly monetary compensation.  Such monetary compensation may be proper for pain and suffering, lost wages, lost future earnings, medical bills, non-medical expenses (equipment), loss of services from loved ones, and other types of injuries related to the sepsis medical malpractice.

What is Sepsis?

Sepsis is a condition of the body that is very damaging and potentially deadly.  When an infection in the body has been allowed to develop and fester, it could spread to other parts of the body including to the blood which is pumped throughout your body.  When your body realizes that it is under attack in multiple areas, it may cause an extreme reaction to fight the infection.  This is known as a septic response.  

This response is an immune system overreaction to the infection.  It is the release of powerful infection-fighting substances in the body.  The purpose is to fight the infection, but the response itself is caustic and toxic to the body.  While the septic response can kill the infection, it can also cause tissue damage, organ damage, brain damage, and wrongful death.  The longer that sepsis is allowed to remain in the body, the more damage that it will cause.

Telltale Signs of Sepsis

The signs and symptoms of sepsis mirror that of an infection, only that when a patient has sepsis the symptoms are magnified greatly.  The main signs of sepsis include the following:

• Temperate – a high temperature is a sign that your body is fighting an infection;
• Infection – signs of an infection could be physical, i.e. an infected wound like a bed sore, or the signs of an infection could be felt, i.e., the flu;
• Cognitive Decline – the main difference between an infection and sepsis is that sepsis will begin to effect a patient mentally by causing confusion, sleepiness, and difficulty to awaken or rouse a person.  Sheer exhaustion is also a sign of sepsis;
• Extremely ill – a patient generally knows when he or she has sepsis as opposed to an infection because he or she will feel extremely ill.  This means that a person may have abnormally painful symptoms.

Reasons Why Healthcare Providers Misdiagnose Sepsis

There are many reasons why healthcare providers misdiagnose and fail to treat sepsis.  Anytime a patient has had sepsis, he or she should contact Oregon sepsis medical malpractice lawyers to ensure that his or her rights are protected because sepsis is a type of condition that is preventable with competent and proper medical care and treatment.  Some of the most common reasons why healthcare providers fail to render such preventable, competent, and proper medical care and treatment include the following:

• Understaffing;
• Improperly trained staff;
• Failing to timely treat a patient;
• Improperly triaging a patient;
• Ignoring a patient’s complaints;
• Misdiagnosing sepsis as a minor infection;
• Providing the wrong medication or wrong dosage to fight sepsis and the infection;
• Failing to properly monitor a patient’s vitals, include fluid intake/outtake;
• Failing to recognize the telltale symptoms of sepsis;
• Inadequate nursing;
• Inexperience in handling sepsis patients;
• Attempting to treat sepsis locally (at a wound infection) rather than epidemically;
• Failing to make timely surgical intervention; and
• Other common causes.

Bend/Portland Oregon Sepsis Medical Malpractice Lawyers

If you or a loved one have been seriously injured or killed as a result of medical malpractice contact the Oregon Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Kuhlman Law at our number below or fill out the intake form.  We offer a free initial case evaluation and handle cases on a contingency fee which means that you pay no money unless we recover.  

We handle cases throughout the state including Bend and Portland Oregon, Redmond, Central Oregon, Multnomah County, Deschutes County, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, Lane County, Medford, Gresham, Albany, Medford, Beaverton, Umatilla, Pendleton, and Hillsboro.  

We also have an office in Minneapolis, Minnesota and take medical malpractice cases throughout the Twin Cities, including St. Paul, Hennepin County, Ramsey County, Dakota County, Washington County, Anoka County, Scott County, Blaine, Stillwater, and Saint Paul Minnesota.  

Please act quickly, there is a limited time (Statute of Limitations) in which you can bring a claim under the law.