Young girl wins $48.3 million settlement after having all her limbs amputated following missed meningitis and sepsis diagnosis

A young girl, who has not been named, from the UK has won a settlement of £39 million ($48.3 million) after doctors amputated all her limbs after she had been wrongfully discharged from hospital.

Lawyers for the girls said her parents took her to Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey, southeast England as she was suffering from a high fever, drowsiness, and vomiting, Metro reported. These symptoms are “red flags for meningitis and sepsis,” according to the BBC News, however doctors gave her paracetamol, or acetaminophen and then discharged her.

Her parents returned to the hospital when her condition worsened, and doctors diagnosed her with meningococcal sepsis. The girl later experienced multi-organ failure.

The severity of her sepsis required the quadruple-limb amputations, Elizabeth-Anne Gumbel KC, who is representing the family, said, the BBC confirmed. The girl had above-knee amputations of both legs, and above-elbow amputations of her arms.

Her family stated that if doctors had treated her straightaway with antibiotics, she would not have been so ill and would likely have kept her limbs.

The hospital trust admitted liability at the High Court in London on Friday, Metro reported.

Gumbel described the girl as “extraordinarily brave” and said she is “managing in school to do very well academically,” the BBC reported.

According to the BBC, Deborah Nadel, the family’s lawyer, described her injuries and subsequent disabilities as “completely avoidable with proper care.”

The NHS trust accepted liability for the young girl’s amputations, with Bradley Martin KC, who represented the trust, conceding, “there is no amount of money that can truly compensate for her injuries.”

The girl will receive part of the settlement in a lump sum and the rest will be paid on an annual basis for the remainder of her life.

A spokesperson for the NHS trust spoke to the BBC and said: “We are very sorry for the claimant’s injuries, and we understand no amount of money can fully compensate for them.”

“However, we are pleased that the settlement has been approved, and we hope the agreed damages will ensure that the claimant can live as independently as possible in the future.”