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Undiagnosed Bacterial Meningitis Can Be Deadly
By malpractice
Failure to diagnose bacterial meningitis is considered to be medical malpractice and is often connected with a claim that the defendant (the doctor) failed to properly treat the illness. Meningitis is a serious infection of the fluid in the spinal cord and the fluid that surrounds the brain and is most commonly caused by three different bacteria or a virus. The bacteria that cause meningitis are spread by direct close contact with the discharges from the nose or throat of an infected person.
Meningitis can be treated with antibiotics depending on when it was diagnosed and how advanced the infection is at the time of diagnosis. Meningitis is caused by a virus or a bacterium, and knowing whether it was caused by a virus or bacterium is important because of the differences in the seriousness of the illness and how it is treated. Bacterial meningitis is much more serious than viral meningitis and can result in brain damage and even death.
Bacterial meningitis is found all over the world, and the bacteria that cause it often live in a person’s mouth and throat without causing any harm. However, in rare instances, they can break through the body’s immune system and travel to the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord where they begin to multiply rapidly. Soon the membrane that covers the brain and spinal cord becomes swollen and inflamed leading to meningitis.
The symptoms of meningitis are most often stiff neck, high fever and headache. The symptoms can take hours or up to 2 days to develop. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, confusion, sleepiness, and sensitivity to light. When the disease is advanced, bruises develop under the skin and then spread over the body. Bacterial meningitis is most common in infants and children but anyone can get it. It is diagnosed by growing bacteria from a sample of spinal fluid obtained through a spinal tap. Proper identification of the bacteria responsible for meningitis is imperative for the proper selection of antibiotic treatment.
Physicians often fail to diagnose bacterial meningitis or misdiagnose it resulting in failure to give the proper treatment to the patient. Failure to diagnose meningitis properly can have grave consequences, including severe brain damage and death.
Because meningitis often strikes children, communication of symptoms is often not clear making the diagnosis even more difficult. A doctor’s delay in recognizing the symptoms of this illness can greatly reduce the patient’s chance for survival. Ironically, the symptoms of this dreadful disease often resemble that of the flu, which could be one of the reasons bacterial meningitis is often missed.
At the very first indication of bacterial meningitis, competent doctors would order a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to confirm the diagnosis or rule it out. Failure to perform a spinal tap if the patient presents with the symptoms of meningitis could result in malpractice liability. Ten percent of people with meningitis die and many more suffer needless permanent injuries due to their doctor’s failure to diagnose the illness right away and treat it properly.
Topics: Medical Malpractice |