If you suffered severe harm or had a loved one die from a hospital-acquired infection or other type of preventable and serious medical error, contact a medical malpractice attorney to determine all responsible parties and obtain justice on your behalf. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertising.
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A hospital may not have been responsible for a patient acquiring a staph infection, but it may be responsible for resulting harm based on failure to diagnose or treat the infection in a timely manner. Surgical patients run a particularly high risk of staph infection.
The infection will then be able to take advantage of the weakened immune system, and the combination may lead to pneumonia. The staph infection may then invade the lungs, which can cause serious complications. The sections that follow discuss some common situations that can lead to a malpractice lawsuit based on a staph infection.
Staph infections after a surgery usually show up within days or a week or two of the surgery. The symptoms include things like redness, pain, and swelling at the surgical cut or incision area in the abdominal area. These infections are usually pretty easy to treat with normal antibiotics.
When it comes to surgery, some infections are unavoidable, even with good quality care. The key word, though, is “some.” There are some infections that would never happen if the hospital, nurses, and surgeons used good procedures and provided standard care.
When a patient develops a post-operative staph infection caused by unsanitary conditions or when the infection goes undiagnosed and/or untreated, medical negligence may be at play. When a serious staph infection was caused by negligence, a medical malpractice claim may be the right course of action.
Hospital Liability Therefore if hospital staff failed to properly clean a scope or care for a wound or sterilize surgical equipment and a patient contracts an infection, the patient may be able to sue the hospital.
Who is legally liable when a patient develops a post-op infection? In many cases of negligence, both the hospital and doctor can be sued for medical malpractice. If you suffer a surgical infection following a procedure, there may be any number of causes.
In some cases, patients will develop a crust over the infected wound and the site may ooze pus. If the staph bacteria have infected blood or bone, you can experience a high fever, chills, or vomiting. If left untreated, these infections may lead to organ failure.
A hospital will not always be liable when a patient acquires a staph infection under the hospital's care. Some staph infections are unavoidable. In order to prevail, a patient must prove that the hospital acted negligently, and that the negligence caused the staph infection.
Surgical infections are one of the types of medical malpractice , and represent the most prevalent type of infection associated with medical care in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.It important to know about lawsuit infection after surgery.
TreatmentOpen the wound by removing the staples or sutures.Do tests of the pus or tissue in the wound to figure out if there is an infection and what kind of antibiotic medicine would work best.Debride the wound by removing dead or infected tissue in the wound.Rinse the wound with salt water (saline solution)More items...•
Sepsis can be life-threatening and cause death if it isn't diagnosed and treated promptly. When sepsis occurs due to medical negligence, patients (or their families in cases of death) may be able to file a medical malpractice claim against the doctor, hospital, or other responsible parties.
Surgical site infections are fairly common after an operation. Even with the sterile environment and clean tools, infections can happen. These infections can be treatable and are fairly low risk if they are dealt with quickly. Dr.
A surgical site infection may cause redness, delayed healing, fever, pain, tenderness, warmth around the incision or even swelling. In some cases, SSIs will cause pus to drain out of the wound site and cause the incision to reopen.
You'll need to watch for infection after surgery. An infection can slow down your recovery. It can even put you in a life-threatening situation. Patient in the hospital for surgery are at high risk for intense infection from COVID-19.
An SSI typically occurs within 30 days after surgery.
A staph infection that arises from medical negligence, for example, where a doctor or nurse fails to clean a wound properly or uses and instrument that has not been sterilized properly, can give an injured party a cause of action for medical negligence.
As long as the infection is not caused by a resistant strain of bacteria (like MRSA), antibiotics will clear the infection within a few days. At the other end of the spectrum, staph infections can cause death or permanent disfigurement, including limb amputation.
The Staphylococcus bacteria that is responsible for staph infections is everywhere, and most living organisms play host to the bacteria and are susceptible to staph infections and complications from those infections.
The prevalence of staph and staph infections, however, is not automatic evidence of that negligence. A person who suspects that his or her staph infection was caused by medical negligence should ask of themselves, their healthcare providers, and an attorney, the following questions:
Virtually any individual could theoretically obtain a staph infection from, among other pathways, viral pathways such food poisoning, and contact with airborne staph bacteria, or potentially a worsening of skin infections that introduce staph bacteria into a person’s system. Staph infections that are contracted at hospitals or medical facilities ...
Staph infections that are contracted at hospitals or medical facilities may give rise to a medical negligence cause of action against those facilities, but the injured person should also consider other infection sources. Recent news stories, for example, have reported on staph and other infections arising from locker rooms and health clubs.
MRSA is particularly problematic because it is resistant to most antibiotics that are usually used to treat staph infections. MRSA can present diagnostic problems because doctors may be led to believe that a patient is not suffering from a staph infection when antibiotics do not appear to be helping the problem.
After being released from the hospital, Patient A sues for medical malpractice and loses. Patient B goes to a hospital for the same reasons as Patient A and also acquires a staph infection. After being released, Patient B hires an expert medical witness who identifies the specific organism that caused Patient B's infection.
The following mistakes might give rise to malpractice liability for an infection acquired during surgery: inadequate blood supply to dissected or manipulated tissue. hemoglobin from shed blood making contact with the wound. dead space left to collect bacteria, and. debris making contact with the wound.
Staph infections can be very minor, sometimes producing symptoms that are barely noticeable. But they can become very serious when combined with other illnesses. For example, a hospital patient with a staph infection might suffer few symptoms until contracting a flu virus.
As the statistics above illustrate, staph infections are fairly common in hospitals. A hospital should warn patients of the risk of infections before the patient begins treatment. This is especially true for a patient that is especially prone to staph infections, such as a surgical patient.
A hospital will not always be liable when a patient acquires a staph infection under the hospital's care. Some staph infections are unavoidable. In order to prevail, a patient must prove that the hospital acted negligently, and that the negligence caused the staph infection.
The hospital may be liable in a medical malpractice lawsuit - if the patient can prove the hospital acted negligently and caused the infection.
Before you start looking into finding a law firm to handle your case, it’s important to make sure you are, in fact, dealing with a staph infection.
Are you experiencing symptoms of a staph infection? If so, you might be wondering whether or not it’s a good idea for you to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
If you think you have a case and are interested in suing a surgeon for negligence, you’ll need to follow a very specific protocol.
Now that you know more about staph infections and what to do if you’ve developed a staph infection after surgery, do you think you ought to file a lawsuit?
MRSA (Staph) is an infection caused by a type of Staphylococcus, a bacterium now resistant to a wide list of antibiotics. MRSA is highly associated with infections acquired exclusively in medical facilities like hospitals or nursing homes.
(Cincinnati, Ohio): Confidential settlement for a family due to a wrongful death. An emergency room physician failed to recognize the common symptoms associated with bowel obstruction and prescribed a contraindicated medicine of GoLytley. The patient died at home the day of discharge after taking the medication. The case against the emergency room physician was resolved by settlement following extensive discovery. The settlement was paid to the spouse and surviving adult children for the loss of their mother. While no amount of money could bring back their mother, the case provided answers and held the hospital accountable.
In some hospital patients, antibiotics can trigger a potentially life-threatening infection caused by a type of bacteria called clostridium difficile ( C. diff.)
It should be common sense that medical staff would always observe basic health hygien e and routinely wash their hands. However, hands are the most common vehicle for transmission of bacteria, and “horizontal transmission” of infections among hospital and nursing home patients.
Nationally, one study of infections generally found that roughly an estimated 95,000 patients annually in the United States develop an invasive infection and nearly one in five die as a result. The number of deaths exceeds those caused by HIV/AIDS or homicides each year.
Call Kline & Specter at 800-243-1100 today to speak with a Hospital malpractice lawyer. We represent victims of Hospital malpractice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and throughout the United States.