$240k ruling against doctors who 'slavishly' followed guidelines overturned on appeal
The original case caused outrage in the profession
17th April 2018
A $240,000 legal judgement against doctors who were found to have “slavishly” followed antibiotic guidelines when treating a boy with an open fracture has been quashed on appeal.
The boy, aged eight when the fracture occurred, had his thumb amputated after it became gangrenous.
In line with current guidelines, the doctors at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney prescribed flucloxacillin but not broad-spectrum gentamicin.