The treatment of sepsis is a significant cause of clinical negligence. Determining causation is a key aspect to successful litigation. We have reviewed the use of medical evidence in establishing legal causation.
Bailey v The Ministry of Defence [2008] EWCA Civ 883 at paragraph 46.
5.
Williams v Bermuda Hospitals Board [2016] AC 888.
6.
VincentJMorenoRTakalaJet al.
The SOFA (Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment) score to describe organ dysfunction/failure. On behalf of the Working Group on Sepsis-Related Problems of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.Intensive Care Med1996;
22: 707–710.
7.
SeymourCLiuVIwashynaTet al.
Assessment of clinical criteria for sepsis for the third international consensus definitions for sepsis and septic shock (sepsis-3). JAMA2016;
315: 762–774.
8.
LimWvan der EerdenMLaingRet al.
Defining community acquired pneumonia severity on presentation to hospital: an international derivation and validation study. Thorax2003;
58: 377–382.
9.
FaraklasIStoddardGNeumayerLet al.
Development and validation of a necrotizing soft-tissue infection mortality risk calculator using NSQIP. J Am Coll Surg2013;
217: 153–160.
10.
KnausWADraperEAWagnerDP.APACHE II: a severity of disease classification system. Crit Care Med1985;
13: 818–829.
11.
KumarAHaeryCPaladuguBet al.
The duration of hypotension before the initiation of antibiotic treatment is a critical determinant of survival in a murine model of Escherichia coli septic shock: association with serum lactate and inflammatory cytokine levels. J Infect Dis2006;
193: 251–258.
12.
ChittaranjanA.Understanding relative risk, odds ratio, and related terms: as simple as it can get. J Clin Psychiatr2015;
76: e857–e861.
13.
SingerM.Antibiotics for sepsis: does each hour really count, or is it incestuous amplification?Am J Respir Crit Care Med2017;
196: 800–802.
14.
SterlingSMillerWPryorJet al.
The impact of timing of antibiotics on outcomes in severe sepsis and septic shock: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Crit Care Med2015;
43: 1907–1915.
15.
de GrootBAnsemsAGerlingDet al.
The association between time to antibiotics and relevant clinical outcomes in emergency department patients with various stages of sepsis: a prospective multi-center study. Crit Care2015;
29: 194.
16.
FerrerRMartin-LoechesIPhillipsG.Empiric antibiotic treatment reduces mortality in severe sepsis and septic shock from the first hour: results from a guideline-based performance improvement program. Crit Care Med2014;
42: 1749–1755.
17.
AlamNOskamEStassenP.Prehospital antibiotics in the ambulance for sepsis: a multicentre, open label, randomised trial. Lancet Respir Med2018;
6: 40–50.
18.
Hotson v East Berkshire Health Authority [1987] AC 750.
19.
Novartis Grimsby Limited v Cookson [2007] EWCA Civ 1261.
20.
Holtby v Brigham Cowan (Hull) Ltd [2000] ICR 1086.
