Hospital Infections
Infections contracted in hospitals are the fourth largest killer in the United States, causing many deaths. One out of every twenty hospital patients gets an infection. That's two million Americans a year and over one hundred thousand of them die. Many hospital infections are preventable. Improvements in intravenous catheter use, compliance with pre-surgical best practices, and better hygiene can significantly reduce the risk of infection.
Infections can cause a significant medical condition, or even a relatively minor one, to become much more severe, and even result in death. Thus, when a patient contracts an infection in the hospital it is necessary to examine the reason for the hospital stay, the risk of contracting an infection for that type of patient, and the steps taken by the hospital to reduce exposure to infectious agents. Infection cases must be thoroughly investigated to determine whether the hospital had a plan, whether healthcare providers in the hospital followed the plan, whether physicians were properly monitoring the use and administration of antibiotics, whether sterilization procedures were properly followed, and whether some other explanation exists. There can be times when the hospital is not negligent for the patient developing an infection, however they can be at fault for not quickly diagnosing and treating the infection. To prove that malpractice caused or contributed to a hospital infection you must establish that the hospital did not have a proper infection control plan or they failed to follow the plan they adopted. Further, the error must have been one that a reasonable hospital would not have committed and which caused the injury to the patient.
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