What Can Impact Compensation for Hospital-Acquired Infections?

When you go to the hospital, you expect your health to improve. If your health worsened due to hospital-acquired infections you contracted, you may be eligible for compensation. If you want more information, read on and then talk to an experienced medical malpractice attorney—these experienced medical malpractice attorneys have the expertise to handle complex cases involving hospital-acquired infections and breaches in the standard of care.

Understanding hospital acquired infections is crucial for patients seeking compensation, as it helps identify when negligence in a healthcare facility may have contributed to their illness.

Hospital-acquired infections can occur not only in hospitals but in any healthcare facility, where invasive procedures and contact with healthcare personnel can increase the risk if proper infection control protocols are not followed.

What Is a Hospital-Acquired Infection?

Hospitals are a place where you go when you are seriously injured or very sick. Typically, most people are treated and sent home within hours of arriving at the hospital. However, the patients with the most serious illnesses and injuries are kept for a day or longer. Hospital-acquired infections (also known as nosocomial infections) are a significant risk for patients who spend extended time in a medical facility.

That means the hospital is usually filled with people who are very sick. This creates a challenge for hospital personnel. They have to enact strict protocols to prevent those serious illnesses and infections acquired in the hospital setting from spreading to other patients. Patient safety is paramount, and lapses in these protocols can compromise it. Unfortunately, sometimes, those protocols fail—often due to inadequate hand hygiene or lack of proper sterilization of surgical instruments and medical devices. When a hospital failed to follow these standards, germs from one patient can infect another, and such preventable infections are often the result of the hospital's negligence. Disease control measures are essential in preventing the spread of these infections within any medical facility.

Having open wounds may make someone more susceptible to infection with microbes like MRSA. However, any patient can develop common types of infections like ventilator-associated pneumonia, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, or even a bloodstream infection. Medical professionals and any healthcare provider must follow strict protocols to prevent these outcomes. Infection leads to serious complications, including physical pain, and if an untreated infection is not addressed promptly, it can escalate to life-threatening conditions. Antibiotics leading to drug-resistant bacteria is another cause for concern, as overuse or improper management can increase the risk of hospital-acquired infections. Medical records play a crucial role in tracking, documenting, and proving cases of hospital-acquired infections and establishing liability when hospital's negligence is involved.

Causes of Hospital-Acquired Infections

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are a serious concern for patients and their families, as they can lead to significant health complications and even trigger medical malpractice claims. Understanding what causes these infections is essential for both preventing them and recognizing when a hospital’s negligence may have played a role.

One of the leading causes of hospital-acquired infections is improper sterilization of medical instruments and equipment. When surgical tools, catheters, or other medical devices are not thoroughly sterilized, harmful bacteria and viruses—such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or Clostridium difficile—can be transferred to patients. This risk is especially high during surgeries, where surgical site infections can develop if infection control procedures are not strictly followed.

Poor hand hygiene among healthcare professionals is another major contributor to acquired infections. Even a single lapse, such as failing to wash hands between patient visits, can result in the spread of dangerous pathogens. Similarly, unclean hospital environments—including patient rooms and surgical suites—can harbor infectious agents if not regularly and properly disinfected. These unclean conditions increase the risk of healthcare associated infections, especially for patients with weakened immune systems.

The misuse or improper handling of medical equipment, such as urinary catheters and ventilators, can also lead to common HAIs like urinary tract infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia. These infections often result in prolonged hospital stays, additional medical expenses, and, in severe cases, life-threatening complications. In situations where infection control protocols are ignored or inadequately enforced, affected patients may have grounds for a hospital acquired infection lawsuit.

Other factors that can contribute to HAIs include the overuse of antibiotics, which can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and failures in isolating infectious patients or using personal protective equipment. Each of these lapses in infection control measures can have devastating consequences, from bloodstream infections to wrongful death claims.

For patients and families facing the aftermath of a hospital acquired infection, understanding these causes is the first step toward seeking justice and pursuing compensation for hospital-acquired infections. If you suspect that poor hygiene practices, improper sterilization, or other forms of hospital negligence led to your infection, consulting with an experienced medical malpractice attorney—and knowing what to ask a lawyer for medical negligence—can help you navigate the legal process and seek compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Ultimately, preventing hospital-acquired infections requires a commitment to rigorous infection control protocols by healthcare professionals and facilities. Patients and their loved ones can also play a role by staying informed and advocating for proper infection control practices. If you believe a hospital’s negligence caused your infection, don’t hesitate to seek legal recourse and protect your rights.

When Would a Hospital-Acquired Infection Be Grounds for Legal Action?

Sometimes protocols just fail, regardless of how careful hospital staff are. Unfortunately, all too often, protocols fail because of negligence.

All it can take is one hospital worker to remove a mask or skip washing their hands for an infection to spread. Even worse, if a hospital has suboptimal protocols, the hospital may be negligent rather than an individual employee.

Regardless, when negligence is a contributing factor to a hospital-acquired infection, you may have grounds for a claim based on hospital acquired infection malpractice. This can involve filing a medical malpractice lawsuit or a hospital infection lawsuit against the hospital or a healthcare worker. To sue a hospital for negligence, you must follow specific steps, including gathering evidence, establishing the standard of care, and proving that alleged malpractice directly caused the infection and resulting damages.

Identifying Negligence

Negligence is a key factor in any medical malpractice case. To prove that a medical professional was negligent, your lawyer needs to prove the four D's of medical negligence:

• The medical professional has a duty to protect the health of your client, and a breach of that duty of care in healthcare occurred

• That duty was violated by intentional action, recklessness, or carelessness

• The violation of that duty resulted in you getting infected

• A monetary value can be assigned to the harm you suffered from that infection

If your attorney can prove all of these factors, a jury should find in your favor.

Factors That Could Impact Compensation in a Medical Malpractice Case

How much is your medical malpractice case worth? That is a tricky question to answer, even for the most experienced medical negligence attorneys, because there are many types of compensation in medical malpractice lawsuits.

The insurance company will try to undervalue your claim. Your attorney will try to present evidence that it is worth as much as possible. Both parties will take into account some of the following factors and the main types of damages in medical malpractice cases.

One important consideration is the health risks associated with hospital-acquired infections. These infections can lead to severe complications, prolonged recovery, and additional medical expenses, all of which can increase the value of your compensation claim.

Hospital Procedures and Protocols

All hospitals and healthcare professionals are supposed to follow an accepted standard of care. When that standard of care isn't met, patients are likely to be harmed.

Your lawyer will typically consult with medical experts to determine whether hospital procedures were robust enough to protect patients if personnel followed them rigorously. If they weren't, this may increase the compensation you receive.

However, when procedures are robust enough, and the negligence is due to the actions of an individual, hospital protocols aren't likely to have much impact on compensation.

Fault

Typically, in medical malpractice cases, the plaintiff isn't at fault. But in some rare cases, you might be partially responsible for the harm you suffered. In these cases, Ohio comparative negligence rules decrease the compensation you receive relative to the amount you are at fault.

Consequences of the Infection

One of the biggest factors for determining how much compensation you will get for a hospital-acquired infection is the consequences of the infection.

Imagine, for example, that you were expected to need a few days in the hospital followed by about a month of recovery. However, because of the infection, you spent two weeks in the hospital, required surgery, and spent over a year recovering.

The difference between the first timeline and the second timeline is a major factor in how much money you will receive. You should get economic damages for the difference in the cost of that medical treatment and for any other expenses you suffered (most likely lost wages).

Furthermore, an infection can potentially turn a serious injury into a catastrophic injury. For example, an infection could require amputation to prevent it from being fatal. If an infection causes your injury to become catastrophic, the limits on non-economic damages are removed, meaning you can potentially get millions more, especially in sensitive cases such as pediatric malpractice where children are harmed.

FAQ

How Much Will a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Cost?

Medical malpractice attorneys take their cases on contingency. This means that you pay nothing unless they get you compensation. And if they get you money, the fee your lawyer charges is only a percentage of the money they get for you.

What Are Common Hospital-Acquired Infections?

Some of the more common infections are:

• Sepsis

• MRSA

• Catheter-associated UTIs

• Surgical site infections (SSI)

• Bloodstream infection

Any infection is dangerous, though, and potentially lethal, especially for those with pre-existing conditions that affect immune system function.

Can I Sue If a Loved One Dies of a Hospital-Acquired Infection?

Yes, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit when the negligence of another party causes the death of your loved one, and families often resolve these claims through hospital wrongful death settlements. However, you may need to act quickly because of the statute of limitations for medical malpractice in Ohio. If you suspect medical malpractice caused your loved one to die, talk to a lawyer immediately so they can begin investigating what caused the death.

Contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer at The Moore Law Firm Today

When you go to the hospital, members of the treatment staff have a responsibility to care for your medical needs. If your health declined because of a hospital-acquired infection that resulted from negligence, contact The Moore Law Firm immediately to schedule a free consultation with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer.