Sepsis is a medical emergency. If left untreated, it can rapidly cause organ failure or death. Unfortunately, doctors and hospitals sometimes fail to diagnose or treat sepsis, which can compromise care in the very moments it’s needed most.
If a doctor or hospital failed to diagnose sepsis in time to prevent serious harm, you may have a medical negligence claim. A Las Cruces medical malpractice lawyer at Coates & Johnson can help you determine whether you have a right to compensation and who owes it. Contact us today in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to schedule a free consultation to learn more.
Why Hire Coates & Johnson for Sepsis Malpractice Cases in Las Cruces
Patients in Las Cruces entrust Coates & Johnson with their sepsis malpractice claims because:
- We have handled cases involving failure to diagnose sepsis, failure to begin appropriate treatment promptly, and failure to treat sepsis once it has been identified
- We take on medical malpractice cases and clients exclusively
- Our partners (one of whom is also a doctor) oversee every claim we handle
- We have decades of experience going up against healthcare providers of all types and sizes
Ready to get started with a free consultation? Call us today to review your case with a trusted sepsis malpractice attorney in Las Cruces.
How a Las Cruces Attorney Can Help With a Failure to Diagnose Sepsis Case
Failure-to-diagnose cases require extensive medical investigation. Healthcare providers frequently argue that sepsis symptoms were difficult to identify or that the patient’s infection progressed too quickly to prevent serious harm.
An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help challenge these claims if they aren’t grounded in the facts. A lawyer may assist by:
- Analyzing hospital charts, lab reports, imaging studies, and clinical notes to reconstruct the timeline of care
- Working with independent medical specialists to determine whether providers violated medical malpractice law
- Examining whether warning signs of infection were overlooked or if treatment was delayed
- Determining which physicians, nurses, or healthcare facilities played a role in the patient’s treatment decisions
- Assessing how the infection and resulting complications affected the patient’s health, recovery, and long-term outlook
Your top-rated Las Cruces sepsis malpractice lawyer will also handle that important step of calculating — and demanding compensation for — the financial and personal losses caused by delayed or improper medical care.
What Is Sepsis?
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body has an extreme response to infection. Instead of fighting the infection, the body’s immune system triggers widespread inflammation that damages tissues and organs.
If untreated, sepsis can quickly progress to septic shock. In these instances, low blood pressure will prevent organs from receiving enough oxygen and can cause failures of vital systems.
Fortunately, sepsis can often be treated successfully if recognized early. Treatment typically involves:
- Immediate administration of broad-spectrum IV antibiotics
- Aggressive fluid resuscitation to stabilize blood pressure
- Continuous monitoring of vital signs and organ function
- Admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) when necessary
- Medications known as vasopressors to maintain blood pressure
- “Source control,” meaning identification and removal of the infection causing the illness
Because sepsis was responsible for many preventable deaths in the past, physicians and hospitals across the United States developed standardized treatment protocols known as the Surviving Sepsis Campaign. These guidelines provide structured diagnostic criteria and treatment steps designed to save lives.
Emergency departments throughout New Mexico have implemented versions of these protocols to help medical providers identify and treat sepsis quickly. However, these guidelines are not always properly followed or understood by the healthcare professionals responsible for patient care. And who pays the price? Patients.
Signs and Symptoms That May Indicate Sepsis
Medical professionals are trained to recognize symptoms that may indicate a serious sepsis-prone infection:
Common signs and symptoms of sepsis may include:
- Fever or abnormally low body temperature
- Rapid heart rate
- Rapid breathing or shortness of breath
- Confusion or altered mental status
- Extreme pain or discomfort
- Low blood pressure
- Reduced urine output
- Pale or discolored skin
When providers recognize these symptoms in a patient with a suspected infection, they must evaluate the patient quickly and begin appropriate treatment. Otherwise, the infection can spread throughout the body and dramatically worsen the patient’s prognosis — and lead to a medical malpractice claim against the responsible providers.
How to Prove a Sepsis Case
Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency. Patients can deteriorate from stable to critical within hours. When providers fail to recognize and treat sepsis promptly, the consequences are often fatal.
Proving a sepsis malpractice case requires establishing the same four elements as any medical negligence claim.
Duty
Medical providers always have a duty to provide proper care and adhere to relevant medical standards when treating patients.
Breach
Breach requires demonstrating that the provider failed to act as a reasonably competent physician would under the same circumstances.
In sepsis cases, this commonly includes:
- Failing to recognize the signs and symptoms of infection or septic shock
- Failing to order blood cultures, lactate levels, or other appropriate diagnostic tests
- Failing to initiate the sepsis protocol within the recognized treatment window
- Delaying administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics
- Failing to monitor a deteriorating patient’s vital signs
- Discharging a patient with an unresolved or unrecognized infection
Expert medical testimony is generally required to establish what medical standards applied in the patient’s situation and whether the provider violated them.
Causation
Causation requires establishing that timely intervention following established protocols would have materially changed the patient’s health outcome. This element also requires expert testimony — typically from infectious disease specialists and emergency or critical care physicians.
Other supporting evidence in a sepsis malpractice case may include:
- Emergency room triage notes and vital sign records
- Blood culture results and the timing of their collection
- Lactate and other laboratory values and when they were obtained
- Nursing documentation of observed symptoms and escalation efforts
- Records showing when the sepsis protocol was initiated
- Antibiotic administration logs and pharmacy records
- Physician orders, progress notes, and consultation records
Expert analysis comparing the patient’s care timeline against Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines is also persuasive.
Damages
Damages in sepsis cases can be extensive. Patients who survive septic shock frequently face amputations, organ failure, and chronic health conditions requiring long-term care. In fatal cases, surviving family members may pursue wrongful death claims.
Who Can Be Held Accountable for a Failure to Diagnose Sepsis in Las Cruces?
Multiple parties may share responsibility for failing to diagnose or treat sepsis in time, from those on the front lines of patient care, all the way to parties responsible for reviewing test results.
Potentially liable parties in your case may include:
- Emergency room physicians who failed to recognize sepsis symptoms
- Primary care physicians who dismissed signs of infection
- Nurses or hospital staff who failed to properly document symptoms
- Hospitals or healthcare systems that failed to provide adequate patient care and staff oversight
- Specialists who didn’t properly evaluate you after referral
- Laboratory personnel who failed to properly report abnormal test results
Your experienced sepsis malpractice lawyer in Las Cruces will take the lead in identifying these and other parties who share liability for your injuries. By locating each one, your attorney will increase the available compensation and insurance sources that will serve as the foundation for your damages award.
How Much is My Sepsis Medical Malpractice Claim Worth?
Patients who suffer injuries due to delayed diagnosis or treatment of sepsis may be entitled to pursue compensation for their economic and non-economic losses. Together, these should provide an award that reflects the financial and personal losses you have experienced.
Your settlement or verdict may include money for:
- Medical expenses related to sepsis treatment
- Future medical care
- Rehabilitation and physical therapy
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Permanent disability
- Reduced quality of life
- Funeral expenses and loss of support/companionship (if wrongful death occurred)
Often, you will need testimony from medical and economic experts to help establish the extent of your damages, especially those you anticipate incurring in the future.
How Long Do I Have to File a Sepsis Negligence Claim in New Mexico?
New Mexico law generally imposes a three-year statute of limitations on medical malpractice claims, including those arising from a failure to diagnose or treat sepsis. In most cases, that window begins on the date of the malpractice. However, there are exceptions that can shorten or lengthen the timeline.
If a patient doesn’t immediately discover that their condition is connected to medical negligence, the time period may be paused until they know (or should know) they have a possible malpractice claim. Claims involving children may also be paused until the child reaches 18 (assuming their parents don’t take legal action on their behalf).
If you miss the deadline in your case, you will be barred from recovering damages in court. That’s why you should contact an attorney as soon as you suspect that a sepsis misdiagnosis or treatment failure contributed to your harm or a loved one’s death.
Consult a Las Cruces Failure to Diagnose Sepsis Lawyer Today
Sepsis is a medical emergency. If it wasn’t treated as such by your medical providers, you deserve answers for any harm you suffered. Coates & Johnson can help you seek the compensation you’re owed.
Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with an esteemed Las Cruces sepsis malpractice lawyer. We’re here to help you during this challenging time.