Hospital-Acquired Infections
Hospital-acquired infections, also known as HAIs or nosocomial infections, are illnesses that are passed from patient to patient in a treatment facility, like a hospital. This phenomenon of disease spreading within such an institution is unacceptable and can easily be controlled through proper patient isolation and adequate sanitation practices. Therefore, if you have developed an HAI, you may have the right to recover damages from the responsible party.
How Disease Is Spread
You may think that in a place as delicate as a hospital, sanitation and sterilization measures would be aggressively enforced. Unfortunately, however, sometimes hospitals fall short of these expectations. When instruments are not sterilized adequately, when patients are not properly cared for, and when hospital workers don’t follow sanitation protocol, vulnerable patients can and will suffer unnecessary and potentially life-threatening infections.
Types of Hospital-Acquired Infections
There are a few hospital-acquired infections that have proven to be more common than others:
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- Staph Infections
- Pneumonia and other respiratory infections
- Surgical infections
- Birth infections – both in the mother and the infant
- E. coli infections
These illnesses can cause an already sick patient to experience an overwhelming and unnecessary amount of pain and suffering. Depending on the specific illness and the condition of the patient before acquiring a nosocomial infection, a patient can die from a hospital-borne disease.
Contact Us
If you or someone you love has suffered from a nosocomial infection while in the hospital, then you may have the right to claim damages. To explore your legal options, contact the New Jersey hospital negligence attorneys of Levinson Axelrod, P.A. today by calling 800-346-5529.
