Who would have ever thought that when a person goes to hospital to get better, they may come home and die of an infection they got while they were in the hospital? Something entirely unrelated to why they were there in the first place.
It’s it a bit of an irony that we all go to a doctor when we are sick and expect them to help us, make us better or even fix whatever the problem is in the first place. “How devastating it is when going to the physician actually gives the patient a new threat to their health? This isn’t as farfetched as it may sound. It actually happens every day when people are discharged from the hospital,” said Michael G. Smith, a Little Rock injury lawyer and Little Rock accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Many people are going home mostly recovered from what put them in the hospital in the first place and subsequently becoming very ill with a nosocomial infection. These infections are also called health care associated infection or hospital acquired infection.
“This isn’t good news and having another bout of illness on the heels of the first doesn’t do much for a person’s immune system. It makes one wonder why they go to the doctor or hospital in the first place if they are going to wind up sicker than they went in,” added Smith.
Nosocomial infections are those picked up in the hospital environment while in there for something else and are considered to be a genuine nosocomial infection if appearing within 48 hours or more after admission, or within 30 days after being discharged.
In the U.S. alone it’s estimated that one patient in ten gets a nosocomial infection. That translates into about 2 million patients a year and costs up to 11 billion to treat. These infections have also been cited as being responsible for an average of 88,000 deaths a year. “The most common nosocomial infections are pneumonias, infections of a surgical sites, and urinary tract infections. Sadly, about 92% of the deaths from hospital infections like this could be prevented,” Smith explained.
For a stark and unusual example of nosocomial infection in action, read the media reports of what is going on with the Cleveland Browns. Evidently at least five of their players have contracted some kind of infection that didn’t have a thing to do with the injury that sent them to hospital. “The biggest thing here to be extremely wary of is battling MRSA, otherwise referred to as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In other words, it’s an infection that can’t be treated with methicillin antibiotic which is a major problem since that covers just about all the antibiotics used,” said Smith.
No matter how the individual contracted the nosocomial infection, this is something that needs to be discussed with a skilled personal injury lawyer. “Knowing what one’s rights are goes a long way toward having the situation legally resolved in a fair and equitable manner,” stated Michael G. Smith, a Little Rock injury lawyer and Little Rock accident lawyer, practicing personal injury law in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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