How a Dog Bite Lawyer Can Help You After an Infection

Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran

Are you aware that nearly 1 in 5 bites lead to an infection that can have long-term health impacts? In the United States alone, nearly 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year, and over 800,000 require medical treatment (Harvard Health). When that lovely afternoon turns into a throbbing ER trip and subsequent infection, those repercussions can extend far beyond the actual bite to your well-being, pocketbook, and lifestyle.

Dog bites can be more than painful irritants—they can be outright medical emergencies if left without medical care. From relatively normal bacterial infections to extremely dangerous but seldom occurring rabies virus, the medical consequences of a dog bite can be severe and long-lasting. In such trying circumstances, a good attorney’s help is not just useful anymore; instead, it becomes outright indispensable.

This step-by-step walkthrough takes you through how infections due to dog bites occur, the complications that can follow, and, more importantly, what a qualified dog bite attorney in Michigan can do to help you through the intricate aftermath of a dog bite infection.

How Dog Bites Can Lead to Infections

Dog bites create perfect conditions for becoming infected. The dog’s teeth cutting through your skin can create deep puncture wounds with small opening wounds. Such a wound tends to become infected more easily than cuts and scrapes due to some important factors.

For that purpose alone, a dog’s mouth harbors hundreds of varieties of bacteria that occur harmlessly enough on their host but will cause serious infection in humans if they find their way in through a cut under their skin. The bacteria find their way deep into flesh with a bite and can grow quickly in their warm, damp environment.

Puncture wounds are not easy to clean. In contrast to open wounds, puncture wounds have a limited time to close quickly, with bacteria getting trapped within. This brings effective cleanliness down even to medical professionals.

Additionally, the crushing force of a dog’s jaw can damage tissue and reduce blood flow to the affected area, further compromising your body’s natural infection-fighting capabilities. Dead or damaged tissue provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria to thrive.

The location of a bite also plays a very important role in infection. Biting around the face, genitals, hand, or foot is much more likely to become infected due to heavy blood supply, proximity to joints, or difficulty keeping such areas bacteria-free to heal.

Redness, swelling, pain that’s worsening, warmth over the site of the bite of the animal, pus drainage, or fever that occurs 24-48 hours after being bitten by a dog is a sign that infection has become established and must be treated right away by a doctor.

Common Infections Caused by Dog Bites (E.G., Cellulitis, Sepsis, Rabies)

Dog bites have a range of complications that range from local infections to systemic infections that can be life-threatening. It is essential to understand such complications in medical treatment and evaluate the complete range of damages in a case.

Cellulitis is also a common infection that occurs after bites by dogs. Bacterial cellulitis can present as red, tender tissue that spreads very quickly. Cellulitis can extend to deep tissue and even the blood if not treated early. The causative bacteria can be Streptococcus and Staphylococcus, or resistant bacteria like MRSA.

Pasteurella infections occur in over 50% of infected wounds due to dog bites. This acting bacteria will show signs as soon as 24 hours after being bitten, with symptoms ranging from intense pain to redness and swelling. Pasteurella can lead to more serious complications in people with weak immune systems, like pneumonia or joint infection.

Capnocytophaga bacteria, while less common, can be a deadly infection in people with a weak immune system. Capnocytophaga infections can cause sepsis, a fatal infection in which the infection is disseminated through the body and causes organ failure and tissue death. The symptoms include fever, vomiting, headache, and confusion.

Tetanus is also a risk factor in dog bites, especially puncture bites. It is a bacterial infection that attacks the nervous system and can cause severe muscle spasms, notably in the jaw and neck muscles, leading to inability to open the mouth, swallow, or even breathe.

The most dreaded infection that a dog bite can cause is rabies. Though not very prevalent in the United States due to immunization, canine rabies due to a dog bite is still a risk factor if it is that of a stray or non-vaccinated animal.

The virus affects the central nervous system and is usually always deadly once symptoms have occurred. The symptoms start with fever, headache, and weakness, followed by confusion, nervousness, restlessness, and then paralysis and death.

Dog bites and rabies infections must be treated immediately. For rabies, it must be administered as a post-exposure prophylaxis to have an effect once symptoms have had a chance to develop. It is, therefore, important to receive medical care immediately after being bitten by a dog, even if it is minor.

Long-Term Health Risks Associated with Untreated Infections

If left untreated, infections caused by dog bites can lead to serious long-term health complications that will permanently alter your quality of life. They extend far beyond your initial wound and can lead to long-term health complications that require continuous medical care.

Osteomyelitis, a bone infection, can result if bacteria that have infected bites taken by dogs make their way to bone tissue. Intravenous antibiotics lasting weeks or months and bone debridement surgery may be required to heal. Osteomyelitis can become chronic with resultant pain, bone deformity, and motion limitation in affected tissue, even with proper treatment.

Septic arthritis is a joint infection that follows joint space infection. It is painful and can lead to rapid loss of cartilage and bone, with permanent joint disability in due time. Biting around joints is particularly susceptible to such a complication and will be treated with surgical drainage and long-term antibiotics.

Systemic infection and septic shock are life-threatening complications of infection due to bites by dogs if they remain untreated. Several organ systems can be affected once bacteria have entered the bloodstream (bacteremia). It can lead to sepsis and septic shock, which is characterized by potentially lethal hypotension (low blood pressure), organ failure, and mortality in up to 30-40%, regardless of aggressive medical management.

Infection can also cause tissue necrosis, a serious condition where cells and tissues die due to a lack of blood supply or overwhelming infection. In extreme cases, this may require amputation of fingers, toes, or limbs for the patient to survive and prevent the infection from spreading.

If a human being is traumatized after being attacked by a dog, they can still suffer mental trauma. Infection complications can exacerbate such trauma through physical complications that contribute to depression, worry, and fear that can necessitate long-term psychotherapy.

For those who already have conditions like diabetes or immune disorders, dog bites can become even more dangerous. They can complicate such conditions further, creating a cascade of medical issues that continue long after the bite.

The threat of such long-term complications highlights why such prompt medical treatment is such a crucial step to take and why it is so important to search for a “dog bite defense attorney near me” online who is attuned to such medical subtleties to acquire compensation that covers prompt and long-term medical treatments.

Medical Expenses (Hospital Visits, Medications, Surgeries)

The financial cost of a dog bite infection can be prohibitively costly, and victims tend to be poorly equipped to handle the medical bills that come with an infected bite. Be aware of such fees when claiming compensation for your injuries.

The initial trip to the emergency room due to infected dog bites can range from $1,000 to $5,000 or more based on the severity of the infection and what will have to be treated. This can already encompass wound debridement, infected tissue extraction, tetanus immunization, rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, and initial courses of antibiotics. For serious infections, such an initial visit can be only the start of a long and costly medical odyssey.

Approximately 3% of people who have been bitten by dogs must be hospitalized due to severe infection. According to studies on health expenditures, hospitalization due to infection caused by bites averages $18,200, with some infections exceeding $30,000 and prolonged hospital admission to the intensive care unit. Hospital admission involves intravenous antibiotics, surgery, wound care professionals, and around-the-clock care.

The surgical operations to repair infected bites also vary considerably with regard to complexity and cost. Wound debridement and decontamination operations can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000, and reconstructive operations to repair tissue loss due to extensive infection can cost between $20,000 and over $100,000, particularly in facial reconstruction or microsurgeries to repair injured nerve and vessel tissue.

Prescription medications are also very costly. A month’s worth of oral antibiotics can run $50 to $100, while intravenous or specialty antibiotics to control resistant infections can range into the thousands. Pain medication is part of that equation, as is medication to help control the side effects of long-term antibiotic therapy.

Follow-up treatment, including wound checks, dressing changes, and monitoring for infection spread, typically entails multiple office visits at $100-$300 per visit. Physical therapy, which is often required after infections affect joint function or muscle tissue, averages $100-$200 per session, and most patients require 20 or more sessions.

For others who have complications with osteomyelitis (bone infection) or sepsis, it becomes very costly. It will take months of follow-up, special care units, and hospitalization that will run into hundreds of thousands of dollars to deal with such complications.

These do not include indirect expenses such as lost time while recovering, transportation to doctor’s appointments, medical equipment, or home modifications that become required while recovering. For a majority of victims of dog bites, such expenses can lead to bankruptcy or financial ruin if they lack proper legal assistance to aid in securing proper compensation.

Your veteran dog attack lawyer will be familiar with tracking and approximating your current and future medical bills regarding your infection to ensure your verdict or award truly considers your recovery costs.

Importance of Experience in Handling Dog Bite Cases

When it involves serious medical and legal complexities of infected canine bites, your lawyer’s level of experience can become a critical factor that can make or break your case. Infection cases involving bites occur with complexities that require specialized training and experience that can be achieved through a high volume of practice in this very technical area of personal injury law.

Experienced dog attack attorneys have a working knowledge of the medical complexities of infection cases. They can work together with physicians to establish causation between bites and related infections if there’s a time lag between when you were bitten and when you started experiencing severe symptoms. This medical understanding helps to accurately value your case to consider acute and potentially resulting complications.

Dog bite law varies considerably from state to state and city to city. Some states have a “strict liability” statute by which owners become liable regardless of their previous behavior with their dogs. In contrast, some states have a “one bite rule” or discretionary statute stipulations. An attorney who practices law frequently with regard to dog bites will have real knowledge of the specific law in your state and the way it will play out in infection cases.

Carriers frequently attempt to minimize the payment of dog attack infection cases by claiming their negligence caused the infection (e.g., delayed treatment or poor wound cleansing). Experienced attorneys see this coming and have methods of effectively refuting it with proper records and testimony of medical professionals.

The owners of the dogs have insurance policies that contain various exclusions and limitations that impact coverage for infection from bites. The lawyers who frequently deal with such cases can determine all the potential sources of compensation, including homeowners’ insurance policies, renters’ insurance policies, umbrella policies, and even, in some instances, assets of the dog’s owner.

Damage to infection requires forecasting coming medical requirements, and in some cases, it can be daunting if it becomes complicated, such as septic arthritis or osteomyelitis. Experienced legal professionals work with economists and medical professionals to effectively forecast such expenses and ensure they will be paid out in settlement claims.

Above all else, attorneys who have successfully tried numerous cases of dog bites that led to infection have experience. They can foresee issues, avoid common pitfalls, and deploy strategies that have proven effective in previous cases to offer you your best chance at full compensation.

When selecting your lawyer to represent your case of infection due to a dog attack, particularly question your lawyer’s background in handling cases involving serious infection and their background with such cases in general. This specialized information will make a case that will pay your medical expenses now and your current and long-term needs as a result of your injury.

Why Is Hiring A Dog Bite Lawyer Essential?

Following a canine attack by a sick animal, you might wonder if it is truly essential to engage a lawyer. There are several valid grounds on which legal help is not merely helpful but also essential to protect your rights and secure fair compensation.

Above all else, infections due to dog bites complicate matters greatly by increasing recovery time and healthcare costs. Victims without legal help settle to simply pay their initial medical expenses without realizing that long-term complications will still require ongoing care.

An aggressive dog bite lawyer ensures that all of your current and long-term medical needs due to your infection are properly taken into account in your settlement.

Carriers will always minimize or contest infections that occur due to bites by dogs. They will inform you that you have caused your wound care yourself in order to create the infection, that it’s pre-existing, or that it’s not as bad as you say it is.

A professional lawyer knows how to combat such techniques with proper medical records and testimony of qualified witnesses that will enhance your chances considerably at a fair award.

The legal standards for finding responsibility in dog attack cases vary and are complicated from state to state. Some states have stringent laws against owners of dogs, while others have a “one bite” statute or other legislation. A good attorney knows those variations and knows how to build a good case based on your state’s law.

Placing a value on a case involving an infected dog bite takes both medical and legal knowledge. In addition to medical expenses paid right now, a full case must consider compensation for lost earnings, pain and suffering, potential future medical care, emotional harm, and, in some cases, punitive damages.

A professional dog bite lawyer knows how to calculate and present those damages in a way that will maximize your award.

Most victims of dog bites forget that their injuries have an emotional impact, particularly if their infections have resulted in disfigurement, multiple surgeries, or life-threatening complications. Your physical and emotional toll of being injured is properly documented and presented by your experienced lawyer in your case.

If negotiations do not yield a reasonable settlement, then it is priceless to have an attorney who can bring your case to court. The simple fact that you have seasoned legal representation in your corner will push insurance companies to make more reasonable offers, knowing the risk and expense of going to trial with a prepared adversary.

Above all else, with a lawyer, you can concentrate on recovering without bothering with legalities while enduring painful infections and medical interventions. Your lawyer will handle everything regarding your case issues, including gathering your proofs, negotiating with insurance providers, talking with medical professionals, and preparing to present your case in court.

Hiring a dog attack lawyer after an injury isn’t merely to obtain compensation—it’s to have someone who is knowledgeable of the full impact of your wound and will stand up for your right to full recovery.

Conclusion

Dog bites present a serious health risk that can easily transform a seemingly minor cut into a serious health risk with long-term consequences. From relatively frequent bacterial infections like cellulitis to rather rare but extremely deadly illnesses like rabies, infection due to a dog bite can lead to long-term medical interventions, enormous financial expenditures, and permanent physical or emotional disability.

Such a challenging situation will require that you have a professional attack canine lawyer representing your case. A professional lawyer has both legal and medical knowledge of your case so that your current and future needs are thoroughly documented and taken care of in your compensation case.

If you or someone close to you has been bitten by a diseased canine, do not try to deal with it yourself. Seek medical care at once if you notice anything that indicates infection, and then call a professional dog bite lawyer who will walk you through legal procedures while you heal.

Keep in mind that time does factor in with regard to bites committed by dogs, and therefore, getting a legal advisor in a timely manner is important. Through appropriate medical care and legal advice, you can overcome the physical, emotional, and financial difficulties of a dog bite attack and move forward with assurance.

Seek Representation for Your Dog Bite Infection Case

If you or someone you love has suffered from an infection following a dog bite, get the legal representation you need. Speak with our compassionate, knowledgeable Cochran, Kroll, & Associates, P.C. attorneys.

We can review your case, guide you through the claims process for dog bite infections, and help you pursue compensation for your medical expenses and suffering. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation.

Our contingency fee basis means we only get paid if we win your case, so there is no financial risk to you to get started. Call our law firm today at 1-866-MICH-LAW  and schedule your no-obligation, free case evaluation.

Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.