As the result of a hospital’s failure to diagnose and treat a boy’s bacterial infection, he is now a quad-amputee. According to reports, the boy scraped his arm when jumping into a swimming pool. The following day, he developed a fever and inflammation, and his mother took him to see his pediatrician. The pediatrician suspected an infection, and advised the mother to go to the hospital to receive IV antibiotics. Tests were inconclusive, so the boy was not treated, despite worsening symptoms. After diagnosing the infection some 32-hours later, it took hospital staff another 3 hours before administering antibiotics. The child was then transferred to a separate hospital where he was diagnosed with toxic shock requiring amputations of both
The first step in treating a patient is successfully diagnosing a condition. This is especially true in serious potentially life threatening situations such as infections where time is of the essence.
A delay in diagnosis can turn a treatable condition into a serious, catastrophic, situation quickly, with a potentially worse outcome.
In these situations, it may be possible to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. For more information, or if you have been harmed by a medical professional’s failure to diagnose a condition, please contact the experienced Los Angeles medical malpractice lawyers at Bostwick Peterson, LLP for an immediate consultation.
