While hospitals are supposed to be a safe and sterile place to go and get better, sometimes they are the exact opposite. While there are some infections that occur at a hospital that are pretty much unavoidable, those are not the scenarios we are blogging about here.

To begin, there are medical and care procedures in place designed to greatly limit the risk of infection while in a hospital. Some of these procedures are as simple as a surgeon washing their hands and wearing as mask and others are much more complicated and specific to the procedure and equipment used. When any of these important procedures are not followed, you may have a wrongful death or personal injury lawsuit against the doctor and/or hospital.

Here’s a look at some of the common sources of hospital infections:

• Surgical Infections: When you are undergoing surgery of any type you are also opening up your body for an increased possibility of infection. Surgical site infections (SSI) are those infections that occur at or near the site of an operation. A very broad term, surgical site infections can be a superficial and clear up on its own or something major that impacts things like your internal organs.  If you or a loved one are going in for a surgery soon, be sure to check out the CDC’s guidelines for reducing surgical site infections. The longer and more invasive the procedure you are having, the more  opportunity for an infection to occur.
• Medical Device Infection: The most common source of this common type of hospital infection are those medical devices that are inserted into your body. For instance, an IV that is not properly sterilized can be the cause of a major if not deadly infection. Another common example of a medical device infection are urinary tract infections that can develop when a catheter is inserted or removed from a patient.

If you or a loved one has contracted an infection while staying at a hospital do not necessarily assume that’s just part of the risk of going to the hospital. There are many instances in which negligence on the part of the hospital or staff was the source of your injuries and this should not be something you have to deal with financially or physically on your own. If you think you might have an infection following a hospital stay, your first call should always be to your doctor to help get the infection under control. Your second call should be to us. We are California wrongful death and serious personal injury attorneys that have the experience and success record you want fighting for you. Potential damages in hospital infection cases include everything from medical bills to missed work to pain and suffering. Time is of the essence so do not hesitate to get in touch with us today