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White Plains Hospital Infection Lawyer

\While few people enjoy going to the hospital, we typically expect our illness or emergency injury to receive treatment and for the medical condition to improve. While no one anticipates that hospitalization itself will make them sick, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warns that an astonishing one in 31 hospital patients has one or more hospital-acquired infections on any given day. These preventable infections significantly impact patient health and healthcare expenses, including extended hospital stays, delayed recovery, and a higher risk of developing antibiotic-resistant infections. An infection also causes an increased chance of death. If you or a close family member suffered complications from a hospital-acquired infection, call the white plains medical malpractice lawyers at Fiedler Deutsch, LLP so we can discuss your right to compensation.

Why You Should Select Fiedler Deutsch, LLP as Your Hospital Infection Attorney

For over 20 years, the dedicated injury victim advocates at Fiedler Deutsch, LLP have been assisting injury victims in White Plains, New York in recovering the compensation they deserve after a preventable injury or illness causes them harm. We provide significant advantages throughout every stage of your case, including the following:

Understanding Hospital-Acquired Infections

A hospital-acquired infection (HAI) is one that was not present or incubating in a patient at the time of their admittance to a hospital. Instead, it is an infection they develop while hospitalized. To diagnose an infection as a hospital-acquired infection it must meet the following criteria:

Unfortunately, hospitals are breeding grounds for infections that may spread between patients, especially when medical providers fail to take adequate measures to prevent spreading contamination.

Common Causes of Hospital Infections

Medical providers including doctors, nurses, food delivery workers, and other staff move from room to room in busy hospitals. Despite strict protocols and regulations requiring hand-washing and other preventative measures, infectious bacteria may spread if a provider or other staff member makes a mistake, doesn’t take adequate measures, or neglects hygiene protocols. Common causes of infections spread in hospitals include the following:

Responsibility for spreading infection may lie with individual hospital staff members or with the facility itself if they neglect to properly train staff or enforce infection prevention methods.

What Types of Hospital Infections Commonly Spread Between Patients?

When a hospital’s hygiene and infection-prevention protocols fail to prevent the spread of infection between patients, the results can be worsened medical conditions and adverse outcomes including prolonged illness, escalating medical costs, and even wrongful death. The most common HAIs include the following:

COVID-19 and other viral infections may also be hospital-acquired infections with serious consequences for those infected, particularly elderly patients and those with weakened immune systems.

Common Symptoms of Hospital Infections

Medical providers and staff members not only have a legal obligation to take all reasonable measures to avoid spreading infections between patients, but they also have a duty to promptly identify and treat HAIs in patients to minimize the severity of the adverse medical condition and prevent negative outcomes. Common symptoms of hospital infections in White Plains and elsewhere include the following:

When a patient acquires an infection while hospitalized, the medical provider or facility is liable for the damages.

Proving Liability for a New York Hospital-Acquired Infection

Doctors and medical staff have a legal duty of care to patients that includes preventing the spread of infection between patients or patients and staff. Failing to do so is considered medical malpractice. Proving liability for HAI requires showing that the following legal criteria of medical malpractice occurred:

It takes a well-executed claim process with significant medical evidence to prove medical malpractice in New York hospital infection claims.

What Damages Can I Recover In a Medical Malpractice Claim For a Hospital-Acquired Infection in New York?

Worsened medical conditions due to hospital infections cause significant economic and non-economic damages to those infected. A successful claim results in compensation such as the following:

If a hospital-acquired infection causes the death of a loved one, a close family member can recover compensation and a sense of justice through a New York wrongful death claim.

Call the White Plains Hospital Infection Attorneys at Fiedler Deutsch, LLP

It’s distressing to undertake a challenging legal process at the same time that you are recovering from a hospital infection in addition to the original medical condition or injury that caused your hospitalization. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by a difficult endeavor, reach out to the experienced Westchester County medical malpractice lawyers at Fiedler Deutsch, LLP who can put their years of experience and assertive negotiation skills behind obtaining your compensation through a settlement or lawsuit.