Early Warning Signs That You May Have Fournier's Gangrene or Other Flesh-Eating Disease

If you are taking certain popular anti-diabetes drugs you are, according to the FDA at an elevated risk of developing Fournier's Gangrene, a flesh-eating disease affecting the genital area

Wednesday, March 6, 2019 - Like all flesh-eating viruses, early detection is the key to treatment and diabetic patients must be extremely vigilant in monitoring themselves. Ignoring the early warning signs that a break in the skin such as a rash or a small cut has become infected with the streptocarpus virus could be a fatal decision. The death rate from Fournier's Gangrene is around 60-70% and in the best scenario, a patient that survives may have required having his genitals amputated and be forced to use a catheter and a colostomy bag to urinate and defecate respectively. On the other hand, a patient could be in even greater medical danger should they stop taking their diabetic medication. If after reading the paragraphs below you suspect that you may have developed Fournier's Gangrene or any other variation of the flesh-eating disease, continue to take your diabetes medication unless advised to stop by your physician and call your doctor immediately. Diabetes drugs attorneys representing people with Fornier's Gangrene are available for a free consultation.

Patients that are the victims of the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis report that the pain from an ordinary wound seems unnatural to that which one might expect from the particular injury. According to an article in Live Science quoting Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency care physician at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital, "One feature of necrotizing fasciitis is pain that's out of proportion to the wound, People with the condition often report exquisite pain and sensitivity." The doctor also warned to look for "crackling sounds or sensations due to the presence of air (gas) under the tissue." The Live Science article also advises that other early warning signs from the Center For Disease Control (CDC) are "a red or swollen area of skin around the cut that spreads quickly and pain beyond the area of skin that's red." The article also warns that pain can start quickly after the skin is broken. Flu-like symptoms may also be an indication that an infection has set in.

Symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis and Fournier's Gangrene in anything but the earliest stages are unmistakable, and ignoring them is tantamount to surrendering to near-certain death. As the flesh-eating disease progresses the most obvious sign will be the nauseating smell of rotting flesh and the blackening of the dead tissues. Doctors that diagnose this will cut away the dead tissue, (debridement) saving as much healthy tissue as possible and pack the open wound with full-spectrum anti-biotics which will also be given to the patient intravenously. If left untreated the disease will rapidly progress to the bloodstream and necrotize the kidneys, liver and other internal organs.

The US FDA had 12 cases of Fournier's Gangrene reported to them in 2018 in which seven of the patients died. Two other cases one of which involved a diabetic patient and military veteran living under the care of a Florida nursing home which has been accused of negligence for failing to watch for the condition. Orderlies at the nursing home were eventually forced by the smell of rotting flesh emanating from the patient's room to investigate and when they did they had no choice but to immediately transfer their client to the hospital where he died days later.

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Lawyers for Fournier's Gangrene

OnderLaw, LLC is a St. Louis personal injury law firm handling serious injury and death claims across the country. Its mission is the pursuit of justice, no matter how complex the case or strenuous the effort. The Onder Law Firm has represented clients throughout the United States in pharmaceutical and medical device litigation such as Pradaxa, Lexapro and Yasmin/Yaz, where the firm's attorneys held significant leadership roles in the litigation, as well as Actos, DePuy, Risperdal and others. The Onder Law Firm has won more than $300 million in four talcum powder ovarian cancer lawsuits in St. Louis. Law firms throughout the nation often seek its experience and expertise on complex litigation.