Sepsis & Meningitis Claims - Clinical Standards, Guidelines & Caselaw

Introduction

Sepsis is the body’s over-active inflammatory response to severe infection and can lead to organ failure and death. It arises frequently in a medico-legal context secondary to abdominal surgery, childbirth, infectious disease and post-surgical infection, for instance.

Earlier diagnosis and treatment (which may be by intravenous antibiotics, surgical source control, and/or treatment for shock) will generally lead to a better outcome. Patients who survive severe sepsis (particularly septic shock) can be left with long term symptoms including organ damage and chronic fatigue.

Meningitis and meningococcal disease claims have a significant overlap with sepsis, as these claims also arise from a delay in diagnosis and treatment of (generally bacterial) infection. Meningococcal septicaemia also causes sepsis. Outcomes from meningitis claims include brain injury and deafness, and outcomes from meningococcal septicaemia claims often involve amputations and other serious injury and death.

This webinar will cover the background to infection and sepsis. It will also consider relevant clinical standards and guidelines together with caselaw.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Background to infection
• Background to sepsis, meningitis and meningococcal disease
• Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) and septic shock
• Standards of care in treating these conditions
• Potential areas for breach of duty
• Using the appropriate experts appropriately
• Caselaw, and lessons to learn from it
• Practical hints and tips

This webinar was recorded on 28th June 2023