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Whether due to surgical neglect, negligence on behalf of the hospital staff, or a multitude of other factors, too many patients go to a hospital for health care and end up developing an infection. Hospital-acquired infections can happen in any healthcare setting: acute care hospitals, dialysis centers, walk-in clinics, and the list goes on.
When an infection occurs, it is too often because of a preventable mistake. Call the DC medical negligence lawyers at Regan Zambri Long for a free case review if you or a loved one has suffered a hospital-acquired infection.
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As the name suggests, a hospital-acquired infection is one that a patient develops while under hospital care. These infections are caused by viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens and have the potential to be fatal if not caught in time or treated correctly.
Hospital-acquired infections generally fall into the category of nosocomial infections. These are defined as infections that were not present when the patient first entered the hospital or medical care facility but were acquired while receiving healthcare. These can include everything from superficial skin infections to infections that permeate a patient’s organs. Some of the most common types of hospital-acquired infections include:
Hospital-acquired infections are often preventable, but if staff fail to respond urgently and appropriately, things can spiral out of control. In the face of medical negligence, what was once preventable and treatable can quickly become a potentially life-threatening infection, such as sepsis.
If you or a loved one has experienced one of the hospital-acquired infections discussed above, you may be wondering what your legal rights and options are. Do you have the right to file a lawsuit against the hospital or facility that gave you this infection?
The answer to this question might be yes. As with all medical malpractice cases, it’s only possible to make a definitive judgment by knowing the details of the claim. However, there are many instances in which an injured patient may be able to sue.
In many cases, when a patient acquires an infection, it is an entirely preventable situation that could have been avoided and was due to a mistake or medical negligence. In a case like this, the patient very likely has the right to sue. When you enter a hospital, you presume that all the healthcare providers you interact with will uphold a high standard of care and provide you with safe and satisfactory medical care. If this is not the case, the medical staff fails to uphold a reasonable standard of care; they have breached one of their legal duties.
Before taking legal action over a hospital-acquired infection, it’s essential to understand what umbrella this falls under in the legal world. Generally, something like this could potentially be considered medical malpractice. But what exactly does that mean?
Medical malpractice is any instance in which a doctor or healthcare professional deviates from the standard of care and exhibits negligence. In other words, given the same information and a similar set of circumstances, would other doctors generally make the same decisions that the doctor in question did? If the answer is “no,” then the healthcare provider likely deviated from the standard of care, and the results could be considered medical malpractice.
You may be entitled to compensation if you believe you experienced negligent medical care while in a healthcare facility. Contact our DC medical liability lawyers, and we will help to determine if you have a valid medical malpractice claim.
Proving negligence in personal injury cases, including hospital-acquired infections, requires a few steps. They are as follows:
There was a duty of care: In a hospital-acquired infection case, this would mean proving that a doctor-patient relationship existed. In other words, a formal relationship was established in which the doctor agreed to treat the patient, perform the necessary surgical procedure, etc. If so, a duty of care existed between them, in which the doctor implicitly agreed to uphold the standard of care when treating the patient.
That duty of care was breached: Next, you must prove that this duty of care was breached via the doctor exhibiting some form of negligence. This would entail showing that the healthcare providers involved made a mistake or acted negligently and failed to uphold the standard of care. For instance, they did not properly sanitize their medical equipment or didn’t correctly monitor patients after surgery.
That breach directly resulted in harm to the claimant: Once you’ve shown that the relevant healthcare professional acted negligently and therefore breached their duty of care, you must show that this breach directly harmed the patient. In the case of a hospital-acquired infection, this means showing that the healthcare provider’s negligence directly led to the patient’s infection. Medical records are a valuable piece of evidence here.
That harm caused them damages: Lastly, you must show that the harm caused (in this case, the patient’s infection) directly resulted in calculable damages for the patient. This can include medical bills, lost wages, and even pain and suffering.
If a hospital-acquired infection harmed you or a loved one, you may be able to sue for compensation. Call our DC hospital negligence lawyers at Regan Zambri Long for a free consultation to discuss your case.
Have you or your loved one sustained injuries in Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia? Regan Zambri Long PLLC has the best lawyers in the country to analyze your case and answer the questions you may have.