Medical Malpractice Hospital Infections
Hospital Acquired Infections
The Center’s for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 5 -10% of hospitalized patients develop an infection related to healthcare association (HAI). This corresponds to approximately 2 million HAI’s associated with nearly 100,000 deaths each year in US Hospital. Studies have shown that patients requiring intensive care are at much higher risk. Most infections that become clinically evident after 48 hours of admission are considered hospital acquired. Sadly, many of these could have been prevented by implementing practices that would have prevented the infections. Recent measures put into effect in some hospitals focused on HAI prevention into regulatory and financial reimbursement systems, which reflect the growing belief that many HAIs are preventable, possibly thru the implementation of evidence based “best practices.”
There are three different risk factors for the invasion of bacteria, which can be categorized into three different areas:
· Iatrogenic – These include bacteria transmitted from the hands of hospital personnel, antibiotic use, prophylaxis and invasive procedures sure as tube intubation, vascular lines, extended ventilation and urine catheterization.
· Organizational - This includes environmental situations such as contaminated ventilation systems and water systems and staffing and physical layout of facilities, for example bed to patient ratio and nurse to patient ratio.
· Prophylaxis – This includes issues such as length of stay, underlying immune-compromised state and severity of illness.
Viral, bacterial and fungal bacteria cause nosocomial infections. Viruses are the leading cause of nosocomial infections in pediatric patients. While bacterial and fungal infections are less common they are more commonly associated with morbidity and mortality. Some of the more common nosocomial infections include but are not limited to:
· MRSA – Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is now unfortunately a tremendous problem within healthcare facilities. It is a huge challenge in as much as it remains a significant cause of hospital-acquired infection. It can only be treated with the glycopeptides group of antibiotics such as vancomycin, which is expensive, can only be given intravenously, and has been associated with renal impairment.
· Group A Strep – This is a type of strep that causes sore throats but also scarlet fever and rheumatic fever and pneumonia
· Group B Strep – This is the most common type of strep found in newborns. It is very dangerous and can cause meningitis, brain damage, cerebral palsy, hearing and vision loss and death. It is also very dangerous to pregnant women, elderly and those with compromised immune systems.
· Necrotising fasciitis – This is a very severe bacterial infection, which often results in amputation of a limb or death.
Infections such as these can be completely devastating not only to the victim but to their families. Babies may require extended hospital stays, or worse yet have ongoing lifelong effects due to the infection the acquired. A patient going in for a simple operation may come away with a debilitating infection not only requiring months of treatment but also possibly risking the loss of a limb or even worse the loss of their life.
Many states require that healthcare facilities require stricter enforcement of measures to prevent these infections, yet, tragically, this is an ongoing problem. Patients put their trust into the doctors and healthcare facilities at times when they are very vulnerable completely believing they will come home from the hospital healthier than they went in. Hospitals and the medical profession owe it to their patients to make sure they receive the best possible care available in a sterile environment. If you or your loved one has contacted an infection as a result of hospital or medical error, you need a legal team experienced in this type of malpractice.
To learn more about medical malpractice issues, please read medical malpractice frequently asked questions on our website. TO learn more about our medical malpractice lawyer, John J. Sellinger, please read about our firm, and click on firm bios for Mr. Sellinger, or watch his medical malpractice video.
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