Connecticut Medical Malpractice: Hospital Infection Transmission Errors

If you or a loved one anticipate a stay at a hospital, you may want to read this. Hospital acquired infections are wrought with personnel transmission errors, according to a study in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers looked at 283 failures including 102 violations of safe operating procedure, 144 mistakes, and 37 instances of failure to do anything, all of which carried a substantial risk of contamination.

How can you protect yourself from acquiring one of these infections?

• Do your research.  The Center for Disease Control keeps and publishes statistics on which hospitals have the lowest occurrences of HAIs.
• Ask your medical professional what steps your hospital is taking to prevent HAIs.
• Understand the proper procedures that hospitals should be taking when handling needles and syringes as well as cleaning procedures. Discuss these steps with your healthcare provider to assure that these procedures are being followed.

Hospital acquired infections are a serious issue and often times are preventable when your healthcare provider follows the appropriate procedures outlined by the Center for Disease Control.

Protect your long term interests if you’ve experienced one of these infections by speaking with an experienced and knowledgeable attorney at McEnery Price Messey & Sullivan.