Hospital Infection: An Overlooked Source Of Medical Malpractice?
Misdiagnosis, and its handmaiden, delayed treatment, surgical errors, prescription medication errors. Anesthesia errors. These are just a few of the ways that medical professionals can make mistakes that are the basis of New Haven medical malpractice actions, and you may already be familiar with them as we are at Lynch, Traub, Keefe & Errante. Indeed, we help our clients with all of these causes of action against hospitals and other health care entities.
What Are Hospital Infections & How Do They Occur?
But there is another kind of potential medical malpractice that can happen to you when you stay at a hospital, and it can occur without any connection to your doctor or nurse. It can even happen to you while you are sleeping in your bed. It is infection, and it is an increasingly serious problem in hospitals in Connecticut and nationwide.
Hospital infection can take place in many ways. A common source is inadequately or improperly sterilized medical instruments, often used in surgery but sometimes involving items as simple as catheters. And another possible source of contamination can be poorly-cleaned linens, which can carry sources of fungal infections that can be serious or, in some cases even fatal.
No one goes to the hospital to find himself or herself in worsened health, but on occasion that is what happens when an infection sets in. If the source of that infection is based in the negligence of a hospital staff member or even a contractor hired by the institution, then you may have a cause of action against the hospital for negligence. At our firm, our attorneys are experienced with investigating cases of hospital infection to look for key facts that indicate hospital negligence, such as inadequate staffing, negligent hiring and supervision, improper training, and more. If you contracted an illness or infection during your hospital stay and suffered a worsened medical condition, contact us to learn more about your possible legal remedies.