While the Orange County Supreme Court jury was out deliberating, a case involving the amputation of the lower extremity of a fifty year old man was settled for $1,150,000. The claim was made that there was a delay of several hours in diagnosing necrotizing fasciitis of the ankle, leading to the amputation of the leg below the knee. Infectious disease experts from both sides agreed that a diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis can only be confirmed by surgery and that debridement (scraping away) of the deep fascia and subcutaneous tissue is the only treatment. The defense claimed that at the earliest time the diagnosis could have been made, it was too late to salvage the leg.