How can endotoxin cause septic shock in a patient?

There are ways to categorize bacteria. One common method is how they stain either Gram positive or gram negative. Without getting to detailed, a gram negative bacteria has a thin lipid layer around it called endotoxin. If someone is septic with a gram negative bacteria, likely they would be treated with antibiotics. As the antibiotics kill off the gram negative bacteria the bacteria will break open or lyse. This is the cruel part, when the bacteria die and break open they release massive amounts of endotoxin as they die. So even if the bacteria are dying the person now must endure or live through the massive amount of endotoxin released.