20-year-old man dies after repeated misdiagnosis of "flesh-eating disease" as natural causes [Health Talk]

According to reports, an inquest has found that medical staff repeatedly missed key "warning signs" of a fatal infection in the case of a 20-year-old man in the United Kingdom (UK) who died three years ago after complaining of severe pain. His death was initially classified as natural causes, but the inquest, launched after persistent challenges from his family, identified delays in hospital transfer and the possibility of misdiagnosis.

According to foreign media including the UK daily The Sun, Luke, a 20-year-old rail engineer at the time, began suffering from a sore throat several days before his death in 2023. A local general practitioner diagnosed him with tonsillitis and prescribed antibiotics. However, his condition rapidly worsened, and he developed such severe pain in his lower body that he could barely walk.
On the night of 20 January that year, an on-call doctor conducted a video consultation and diagnosed Luke with sciatica, prescribing the anti-inflammatory painkiller Naproxen. About 12 hours later, when his pain intensified, his family called the emergency department. Paramedics were dispatched, but they decided that hospital transfer was unnecessary and left him at home.
His condition continued to deteriorate, and only two days later, when the pain became unbearable, was he finally rushed to hospital. He died the following day, on 23 January 2023. An autopsy found that the cause of death was a combination of sepsis, Lemierre syndrome and necrotizing fasciitis.

Testifying on the first day of the inquest, the patient safety lead at East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) stated, "On 20 January, Luke absolutely should have been taken to hospital," admitting, "The decision to leave him at home was clearly wrong."
In the inquest records, paramedics noted that Luke was in such severe pain when they arrived that he could not move on his own. He also showed multiple signs suggestive of a serious infection, including high fever, tachycardia, dark-colored urine and high blood sugar. Although he had no history of diabetes, his blood glucose level was measured at 16, just below the automatic emergency transfer threshold of 17.
The patient safety lead said, "The blood glucose level was the clearest red flag," and pointed out, "His pain score was 9 out of 10, which should have put him in the 'red' category requiring immediate transfer, but he was classified as 'caution' instead, and no transfer took place." The official added, "There was insufficient clinical evidence to view this simply as sciatica."

The on-call doctor who diagnosed sciatica at the time appeared via video link and testified that, during the remote consultation, he did not observe any obvious external signs such as skin rash or discoloration that would have raised suspicion of necrotizing fasciitis or a severe infection. He stated, "I was told that the tonsillitis symptoms were improving with antibiotics, so I did not carry out further assessment."

Necrotizing fasciitis, Lemierre syndrome and sepsis, which together directly caused Luke's death, all tend to present with relatively non-specific early symptoms. At first they may look like a simple cold or muscle ache, but they can progress within a short time into life-threatening systemic infections.
Necrotizing fasciitis is a deadly bacterial infection often referred to as a "flesh-eating disease." It spreads very rapidly along the skin and fascia, causing tissue death. Early signs include intense localized pain, swelling and high fever. If treatment is delayed, the condition can quickly worsen into sepsis and multiple organ failure, with a mortality rate of 20–40%.
Lemierre syndrome is an infectious disease in which bacteria enter the bloodstream after pharyngitis or tonsillitis, leading to internal jugular vein thrombosis and systemic sepsis. It mainly affects otherwise healthy teenagers and young adults. It typically begins as a simple sore throat, then suddenly deteriorates, causing high fever, severe generalized pain and shortness of breath.
Sepsis is a severe medical emergency in which an infection spreads into the bloodstream, triggering a systemic inflammatory response and leading to organ dysfunction. It can rapidly progress to septic shock.

hsg@fnnews.com Han Seung-gon Reporter