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Staying at a hospital for a prolonged time means potential exposure to other patients and their ailments. In some cases, this could mean catching an infection, and common infections like Staphylococcus are often acquired at hospitals, standing as one of the most common complications you could face from hospitalization. In some cases, these infections are within the realm of normal, expected complications, but if you acquire a serious, life-threatening infection like MRSA or another “superbug,” you could need additional medical treatment.
If you or a loved one was affected by a hospital-acquired infection (HAI), contact a medical malpractice lawyer for legal advice on whether or not your care fell below the applicable standards and whether you have grounds for a lawsuit. For help with your case, call The Queenan Law Firm’s Arlington, TX attorneys for injury from a hospital infection. Our phone number is (817) 476-1797.
Causes of Hospital-Acquired Infections
The name of this type of infection varies from “hospital-acquired infection” to “healthcare-associated infection,” but regardless of the name, these infections are acquired from medical treatment. Hospital stays often expose patients to infections around the hospital, with the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimating that about 1 in 31 hospital patients has a hospital-acquired infection on any day. In most cases, these infections do not seriously harm the patient’s health and may result in a rash or redness. In more serious cases, however, you could need additional medical care and could face life-threatening conditions.
Many infections can be treated with prompt administration of antibiotics. Amoxicillin or another antibiotic is commonly administered after surgery to help prevent infection, but this does not always work. If you do receive an infection in a surgical incision or at the site of a wound, you could face increased suffering and discomfort while you heal, potentially prolonging your hospital stay or requiring additional wound care and medical treatment. These infections can occur from contact with dirty surfaces or even from general exposure to other people and things in the hospital that may carry low levels of staph or another bacterium.
In some cases, antibiotics are ineffective to treat these infections. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a form of staph infection that is resistant to many antibiotics. Other colonies or subsets of bacteria might develop resistances to other antibiotics as well, which can make it difficult to treat the infection and prevent spreading. If you come down with one of these infections from contact with dirty surfaces or unsanitary hospital equipment, you could face a prolonged recovery.
Suing for Infections Acquired at the Hospital
If you came down with an infection because of your stay at a hospital in Texas, you may be entitled to file a lawsuit against the negligent hospital and staff who allowed you to catch the infection. Your case will typically hinge on how you acquired the infection and whether it was due to a mistake or error on the part of the hospital staff.
To win a lawsuit for a hospital infection or any other medical negligence, you must prove that the injury or negative outcome you received was because of negligence. The fact that you had a bad outcome is not enough to get compensation; you must first prove that the care fell below the standard of care and the harm should have been avoided through better medical care. In most cases, this requires using a medical expert to testify that your care was subpar and caused your injury. With hospital infection cases, this means pointing to conditions at the hospital that allowed you to receive an infection when you should have been kept infection free.
In many cases leading to lawsuits for infection, the hospital or their staff is negligent in allowing the patient to get an infection in the first place, or they are negligent in failing to promptly treat the infection. If your doctor or other healthcare provider fails to take the infection seriously and allows it to spread or become resistant to antibiotics, you could have increased harm that they should have avoided through higher quality care.
When you sue a hospital or a doctor for medical malpractice, their medical malpractice insurance provider and their legal team will typically try to fight the case and protect the hospital and their staff from negligence. This means that you may face staunch legal challenges to your claim, and you will typically need a lawyer of your own to progress your claim. You should also speak with a lawyer about your case to learn what the case should be worth instead of relying on the defendant’s valuation.
When you sue for compensation, you can typically receive payments to cover any financial, physical, or mental harm you faced from the negligence. In a hospital infection case, this may mean covering the cost of additional healthcare needs, further hospitalization, additional missed work, “lost chance,” physical pain, and mental or emotional suffering. Talk to a lawyer about how to calculate these damages and claim them in court.
Call Our Arlington, Texas Hospital Infection Lawyer for a Free Consultation
If you or a loved one faced an infection from hospitalization or healthcare acquired at a hospital, contact The Queenan Law Firm today. Our Arlington hospital infection attorneys and medical malpractice lawyers represent victims and work to get them and their families financial compensation for damages caused by hospital infections and other negligent healthcare. For a free case consultation, call us today at (817) 476-1797.