When you enter a hospital for treatment, you trust that the medical facility will help you heal, not make you sicker. Unfortunately, hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), also known as healthcare-associated infections or nosocomial infections, affect approximately 1 in 31 hospital patients according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While not every hospital infection constitutes medical malpractice, some cases involve clear negligence that can lead to serious complications, extended hospital stays, additional medical expenses, and even death.
Understanding Hospital-Acquired Infections
Hospital-acquired infections develop during your stay and were not present when you were admitted. These infections can manifest in various ways, from surgical site infections that occur at incision sites and range from superficial skin problems to deep tissue infections involving organs and implanted materials, to central line-associated bloodstream infections where bacteria enter through venous catheters. The most common type involves catheter-associated urinary tract infections when bacteria enter through urinary catheters, while ventilator-associated pneumonia develops in patients on mechanical ventilators for more than 48 hours.
Some of the most serious hospital infections include Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections, which cause severe diarrhea and colitis often following antibiotic treatment that disrupts normal gut bacteria. Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) represents another dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection that can cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and surgical site complications.
When Hospital Infections Become Medical Malpractice
Not every hospital-acquired infection constitutes medical malpractice. Healthcare facilities have a duty to maintain reasonable standards of care, but they cannot guarantee that infections will never occur. However, when infections result from a breach of the standard of care, legal action may be warranted.
To establish a valid medical malpractice claim for a hospital-acquired infection in Texas, you must prove that the hospital and its staff owed you a duty to provide care meeting accepted medical standards, including proper infection control protocols. You must also demonstrate that healthcare providers failed to meet the standard of care through actions or omissions that a reasonable healthcare professional would not have made under similar circumstances. The breach of duty must have directly caused or significantly contributed to your infection and resulting injuries, and you must have suffered actual harm including physical injury, additional medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, or other measurable losses.
How Hospital Negligence Leads to Infections
Hospital negligence can take many forms. Healthcare workers failing to properly wash or sanitize their hands between patients represents a leading cause of infection transmission. Surgical instruments, medical devices, or equipment that are not properly sterilized can introduce harmful bacteria or viruses. Poor catheter care, including failure to properly insert, maintain, or remove catheters according to established protocols, frequently leads to serious infections.
Contaminated or improperly maintained medical equipment can directly cause infections, while inadequate environmental controls fail to maintain clean environments, proper ventilation, and appropriate isolation protocols for infectious patients. Inappropriate antibiotic use can lead to antibiotic-resistant infections or disrupt normal bacterial flora, causing secondary infections. Additionally, failure to promptly recognize and treat early signs of infection allows conditions to worsen significantly.
Texas Legal Requirements
Texas has specific laws and procedures that apply to medical malpractice cases involving hospital infections. The state requires that medical malpractice claims be supported by expert medical testimony, meaning you must have a qualified medical expert who can testify that the hospital’s actions fell below the accepted standard of care and directly caused your infection. Before filing a lawsuit in Texas, you must provide the healthcare provider with at least 60 days’ written notice of your intent to file a malpractice claim, along with an expert report supporting your allegations.
Building Your Case
A strong hospital infection malpractice case requires thorough investigation and analysis. Your attorney will obtain and carefully review all relevant medical records, including admission records, medical history, nursing notes, medication administration records, laboratory results, culture reports, infection control documentation, hospital policies and procedures, and staff training records.
Qualified medical experts will review your case to determine whether proper infection control protocols were followed, if the infection was preventable given appropriate care, the extent to which negligence contributed to your infection, and the full scope of damages caused by the infection. Your legal team will examine whether the hospital had appropriate policies in place and whether staff followed these policies regarding hand hygiene protocols, sterilization procedures, catheter care guidelines, environmental cleaning standards, and isolation precautions.
Potential Compensation
If you can prove that hospital negligence caused your infection, you may be entitled to various types of compensation. Economic damages include additional medical expenses for extended hospital stays, additional treatments, medications, and ongoing care related to the infection. You may recover lost wages due to extended recovery time or permanent disability caused by the infection, future medical costs for ongoing care, rehabilitation, or treatment needed as a result of the infection, and loss of earning capacity due to permanent effects of the infection.
Non-economic damages encompass pain and suffering from physical pain, emotional distress, and reduced quality of life caused by the infection and its complications. You may also recover for disfigurement or disability including permanent scarring, amputation, or other lasting physical effects, as well as loss of consortium representing the impact on relationships with spouse or family members.
Taking Immediate Action
If you believe you developed an infection due to hospital negligence, taking prompt action can help protect your legal rights. Document everything by keeping detailed records of your symptoms, treatments, and communications with healthcare providers. Request copies of all medical records related to your hospital stay and infection treatment. Continue following your doctor’s treatment recommendations and attend all follow-up appointments while preserving evidence including all medical bills, prescription bottles, and other documentation related to your infection treatment.
Contact an attorney promptly because medical malpractice cases have strict deadlines and evidence can be lost over time. Choose experienced counsel with specific experience in hospital infection and medical malpractice cases, and provide your attorney with all relevant medical records, bills, and documentation.
Understanding Infection Control Standards
Recognizing proper infection control measures can help you identify when standards may have been breached. All healthcare facilities should implement standard precautions including hand hygiene before and after patient contact, use of personal protective equipment, safe injection practices, proper handling of contaminated equipment, and environmental cleaning and disinfection. Hospitals must properly isolate patients with contagious infections to prevent transmission to other patients and healthcare workers, while responsible antibiotic use helps prevent the development of antibiotic-resistant infections like MRSA and C. diff.
Why You Need Experienced Legal Representation
Hospital infection cases are complex and require attorneys who understand both medical and legal aspects. Your attorney should understand infection control protocols, hospital procedures, and the medical factors that contribute to healthcare-associated infections. Successful cases require thorough investigation, including access to medical experts, hospital policy analysis, and comprehensive record review. If your case goes to trial, you need an attorney with courtroom experience in medical malpractice cases.
How can we assist?
If you or a loved one developed a serious infection during a hospital stay, you may have legal rights. Hospital-acquired infections can have devastating consequences, but when they result from negligence, healthcare facilities should be held accountable.
The medical negligence lawyers at InjuryFromHospital.com are highly skilled in litigating medical malpractice claims across the country. The firm has the resources to take any medical malpractice case to trial. Additionally, the firm has an in-house board-certified OB-GYN doctor that reviews all medical malpractice cases and works collaboratively with the lawyers to develop appropriate case strategy.
Please contact us at 1 855-538-0863 today for a free consultation. If we accept your case, you will not be charged any fees unless we win or recover for you. NO WIN NO FEE!