Infections Caused by Malpractice

Most people go to the hospital hoping to get better. Unfortunately, around 1.7 million patients get infections at the hospital on an annual basis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A significant number of these infections result in death. Infections have become commonplace at hospitals, but some are preventable and arise as a result of medical malpractice. If you suffered due to an infection during a hospital stay, you may be able to recover damages. The experienced Syracuse medical malpractice attorneys of DeFrancisco & Falgiatano may be able to help.

Infections can occur even in hospitals with strict protocols to prevent them. Incidents involving methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are increasingly common. MRSA has developed a very strong resistance to antibiotic treatment, and if it gets into the urinary tract, the lungs, or the bloodstream, it's especially dangerous. Staph is a particularly hardy kind of bacteria that is transmitted from person to person and survives on surfaces as well as cloth. Many people carry staph bacteria on them without danger, but when there is a surgical incision or a wound, the bacteria can make its way inside the body creating a boil or abscess. The result may be severe complications or even death.

Enterococci bacteria has also become resistant to the antibiotics used by hospitals. It is often associated with catheters that are inserted into a patient's body to provide fluids or medication, or to get blood. The bacteria can get into the insertion point, especially where cleaning protocols are not followed. Another bacteria is Clostridium difficile, which is located inside gastrointestinal tracts and is controlled by other bacteria. When patients are on antibiotics at the hospital, the result may be an imbalance that permits the Clostridium difficile to take over.

Some infections are preventable and arise as a result of negligence and medical malpractice. All surfaces and surgical instruments and hands should be appropriate disinfected before having contact with a patient. When the environment is appropriately sterilized and infections are identified and treated, the risks are reduced.

Infections can be caused by a natural reaction to a surgical procedure. On the other hand, they can also be triggered by unsanitary conduct. When the latter occurs, it may be possible to hold a health care provider responsible for injuries. In order to hold a health care provider accountable for medical malpractice, you'll need to show: (1) there was a doctor-patient relationship, (2) the healthcare provider breached their professional duty of care, (3) actual and proximate causation, and (4) actual damages. You'll need to show that the breach of the professional duty of care was the actual or legal cause of the infection, and that the infection would not have happened but for the failure to abide by the professional duty of care.

You'll need to retain an expert to provide opinions about what the professional standard of care was, whether it was breached and causation. The expert will have to opine that your health care provider's conduct was unreasonable such that reasonable and competent health care providers in the same specialty wouldn't have provided the type of care that your health care provider gave you. A seasoned medical negligence attorney can help you locate an appropriately credentialed expert to testify that your infection was caused by malpractice.

If you are able to establish liability, you may be able to collect compensation from the health care providers whose actions fell below the standard of care, including the doctor and the hospital. Damages you may be able to recover include coverage for medical bills, lost income, emotional distress, pain and suffering, and replacement services.

Sometimes a patient's trust in a doctor or hospital is betrayed. Infections caused by malpractice can have devastating results. The lawyers at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano represent injured patients and their families in Syracuse, Rochester, Elmira, Binghamton, Auburn, Ithaca, Oswego, Norwich, Herkimer, Delhi, Cooperstown, Cortland, Lowville, Oneida, Watertown, Oswego, Utica, Canandaigua, Wampsville, Cooperstown, and Lyons. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form to learn more about your rights.