As much as we hate hospitals, sometimes we have no choice but to spend days, weeks, or months at the hospital to treat an injury or illness. And while we entrust our lives, health, and wellbeing to doctors and nurses, there is always a risk of encountering an inexperienced and incompetent medical professional.
In fact, even if you are being treated by the most experienced and qualified healthcare provider, let’s not forget that nurses and doctors are humans, too. And humans make mistakes.
Sepsis is one of the most common byproducts of the hospital staff’s negligence. Sepsis is a serious organ dysfunction that results from an infection. “This condition can cost you your life if left untreated,” warns our California medical malpractice attorney at the Licata & Yeremenko, A Professional Law Corporation.
What is Sepsis?
Sepsis occurs when your body’s response to infection attacks your own organs and tissues. Pneumonia and bloodstream infection are considered the most common types of infections that cause sepsis. Unfortunately, negligent acts or omission to act on the part of medical professionals can also lead to sepsis.
Sepsis that is acquired during a hospital stay is called a hospital-acquired infection (HAI).
Fact: About 1.5 million Americans acquire sepsis every year, of which more than 720,000 are HAIs acquired by people at acute care hospitals.
Can You Sue For Medical Malpractice If You Acquired Sepsis During A Hospital Stay?
Since sepsis can cause a plethora of health complications and even lead to death, you do have a right to sue negligent medical professionals for sepsis acquired during your hospital stay.
An experienced medical malpractice attorney in California can determine whether the sepsis was acquired due to an infection that you had before your hospital stay or it was a primary or secondary cause of negligent acts or omission to act on the part of hospital staff.
If it is the latter, sepsis can be grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. And since sepsis is a life-threatening condition, which kills more than 70,000 Americans every year, California courts treat such medical malpractice claims very seriously.
How Negligent Hospital Staff Put You At Risk Of Contracting Sepsis
“But what does hospital staff have to do with sepsis?” you may be wondering. Negligence on the part of medical professionals is one of the leading causes of sepsis in the United States, as such types of negligent acts put a patient at a higher risk of contracting sepsis during a hospital stay:
- Failure to properly sterilize equipment, instruments, and tools.
- Poor sanitation practices at the hospital.
- Inadequate care of surgical wounds or bedsores.
- Use of defective or improperly sterilized medical devices.
Our California legal malpractice lawyer outlines symptoms of sepsis as follows: high temperature, cold shivers, rapid heart rate and rapid breathing for no reason, dizziness, confusion, and diarrhea.
If you believe that you have hospital-acquired sepsis or any other infection, do not hesitate to contact our lawyers at Licata & Yeremenko, A Professional Law Corporation and get a free consultation. Call our offices at 818-783-5757 or fill out this contact form.