Sepsis is a serious medical emergency that happens when your body has an extreme reaction to an infection. If it’s not treated fast, it can lead to organ failure and even death. While infections in hospitals aren’t unusual, sepsis is far more dangerous. In fact, it’s the leading cause of infection-related deaths worldwide. Here in Australia, more than 55,000 people are affected each year, and around 8,700 don’t survive — that’s more than many common cancers or road accidents.
Sepsis can lead to long hospital stays, toxic side effects from antibiotics, and even amputations. It often results in long-term disability that affects your ability to work or live normally. If you developed sepsis in hospital and it wasn’t treated properly, you could be entitled to substantial compensation through a medical negligence claim.
Get in touch today for expert advice on your situation. Our experienced sepsis lawyers can help you find out if your hospital is responsible for your condition — and how much compensation you’re entitled to. Your first consultation is completely free.
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Common types of sepsis negligence claims
With over 25 years’ experience helping patients mistreated in hospitals, we’ve seen just how often sepsis is caused by clear medical failings. Some of the most common examples include:
- Failing to recognise early signs of infection (like fever, high heart rate or confusion).
- Delaying diagnosis or treatment once the infection was suspected.
- Not ordering essential tests like blood cultures or imaging.
- Giving the wrong type of antibiotics or not giving them quickly enough.
- Not prescribing preventative antibiotics before or after surgery.
- Ignoring or mishandling post-surgical wound infections.
- Failing to follow hygiene and infection control protocols.
- Not performing timely washout, drainage or debridement of infected tissue.
- Overcrowded wards or understaffing that leads to delayed care or missed symptoms.
Some of these errors may seem minor, but they can turn a treatable infection into a life-threatening emergency. If this happened to you or a loved one, our sepsis negligence lawyers can help you understand your rights and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Proving that your sepsis was caused by negligence
It’s important to understand that not all cases of sepsis are the hospital’s fault. To confirm that your sepsis was caused by hospital negligence, you’ll need to prove three key things:
1. The hospital breached its duty of care
Hospitals in Australia have a legal duty to provide safe, timely, and appropriate care — this is known as their ‘duty of care’. This duty extends to all hospital staff, with the hospital legally responsible for the actions of its full-time, part-time, and casual employees.
If hospital staff failed to recognise your infection, delayed essential treatment, or gave you the wrong care, the hospital may have breached this duty.
To prove a breach, you must show that another hospital, acting reasonably in the same circumstances, would have acted differently and likely prevented the sepsis from developing or worsening.
2. Its failure to treat you properly caused or worsened your condition
To receive compensation, you’ll need to prove that the hospital’s failure to provide proper care directly caused or worsened your sepsis. This is known as ‘causation’.
You also need to show foreseeability — meaning a reasonable hospital in the same situation should have anticipated that failing to act (or acting incorrectly) could lead to serious complications like sepsis.
3. You suffered injury and loss
Finally, you must show that the hospital’s actions (or inaction) caused you harm. This could include things like extra medical costs, time off work, ongoing care needs, or the physical and emotional impact the sepsis has had on your life.
How much compensation can I get for sepsis?
There is no set amount of compensation for medical negligence sepsis cases. It all depends entirely on how serious your infection was and how badly the hospital failed in its duty of care.
Minor cases — where the delay in treatment didn’t seriously affect your health — might result in $100,000 – $200,000. But in severe cases involving permanent disability or major complications, compensation can exceed $10 million. Depending on your situation, you could claim:
- Lost income and your future reduced earning capacity.
- Medical and treatment expenses.
- Rehabilitation and therapy.
- Care and support needs.
- Home or vehicle modifications (if necessary).
- Pain and suffering.
- Punitive damages (in rare cases where the negligence was extreme).
Can you sue a hospital for a sepsis-related death?
If you’ve lost a loved one due to sepsis, you can’t make a medical negligence claim on their behalf. However, you may still be entitled to compensation through a wrongful death claim. There are two types of claims you may have, but depending on your situation, you could be eligible for both:
- Compensation to relatives claims: if you’ve lost financial support or help with domestic services after your loved one’s death.
- Nervous shock claims: if you’ve developed a recognised psychological condition as a result of your loved one’s death.
With both types of claims, you’ll need to be a close relative of the deceased, such as a spouse, de facto partner, child, parent or sibling.
To find out whether you qualify and how much you could receive, head to our complete guide to wrongful death claims.
Do I need a sepsis negligence lawyer for my claim?
While you can sue a hospital on your own, we highly recommend consulting a specialist sepsis negligence lawyer before starting your claim.
Medical negligence law is complex and requires a deep understanding of both legal principles and medical practices — how hospitals operate, how diagnoses and treatments should be handled, and where things can go wrong. Without this expertise, proving that a hospital’s negligence caused or worsened your sepsis is almost impossible.
A specialist lawyer can assist with every stage of your claim, including:
- Listening to your story and offering free legal advice in plain English.
- Collecting strong evidence showing negligence and its impact on your sepsis.
- Countering opposing arguments with medical reports and expert testimony.
- Providing a free second opinion if another lawyer said you don’t have a claim.
- Identifying related claims that might increase your compensation, like Total and Permanent Disability (TPD).
- Fighting to secure the highest compensation you deserve.
- Covering all upfront costs related to your claim and working on a No Win No Fee basis, so you won’t pay a cent unless your case succeeds.
Our sepsis negligence solicitors are specially trained to take on the major healthcare insurers and work closely with medical experts to support your case every step of the way.
