(845) 802-0047Hospitals are designed to be safe, clean environments that provide patients with the opportunity to recover and heal. When the conditions in these facilities are unsanitary, patients can quickly face serious health consequences. One of those consequences is the risk of an avoidable infection.
If you were infected with a disease due to negligence or medical malpractice, you have the right to pursue financial compensation. A dedicated medical malpractice attorney could assist you in those efforts. The guidance of a Poughkeepsie avoidable infection lawyer could make a tremendous difference in the outcome of your case.
How Do Avoidable Infections Occur in Poughkeepsie?
In hospitals or other medical facilities, there are a number of factors that could result in the transmission of a bacterial or viral infection. Unsanitary conditions and careless medical care could both contribute to the spread of infection.
Every healthcare professional—doctors, surgeons, and nurses—owes their patients a duty of care. Part of this duty is protecting them from the spread of avoidable infection. This duty requires that medical professionals carefully disinfect areas and objects that patients could come in contact with. This includes everything from medical devices to call lights.
The failure to properly disinfect surfaces is only one of the ways infections can occur. Avoidable infections are also a possibility when medical staff overuses antibiotics, causing the patient to become resistant to bacteria. Improper disposal of biohazardous substances and poor personal hygiene are other examples.
When a patient is diagnosed with an infection that resulted from their stay in a hospital, it is important to evaluate if that infection was avoidable. An attorney could assist with pursuing a claim following an avoidable infection in Poughkeepsie.
Pursuing Compensation Following an Avoidable Infection
The consequences that can follow a serious infection can last for months, years, or for the rest of a person’s life. These devastating consequences often require extensive medical care and they could impact a person’s ability to care for themselves in the future. The financial implications that come with a serious infection can be overwhelming, as well.
A patient who suffers from an infection due to medical negligence could be entitled to financial compensation. This compensation could cover their medical expenses, replace their lost wages, and provide them with comfort while they recover from their illness.
Establishing Medical Negligence
In order for a patient to recover compensation, they must first show that the facility or its employees were negligent in their care. Some infections occur despite a doctor’s best efforts and compensation is only available when negligence comes into play.
In order to establish negligence, a patient must first show that they were owed a duty of care. This is rarely an issue in a hospital, given that doctors have a duty to provide adequate care for their patients. Establishing that this duty was violated could be more challenging. Any of the careless ways that can lead to an avoidable infection could be evidence of a breached duty. Finally, a plaintiff must link this breached duty to the damages they suffered. An avoidable infection lawyer in Poughkeepsie could help with each of these steps.
Talk to a Poughkeepsie Avoidable Infection Attorney Today
Your doctor has a duty to take any steps necessary to prevent you from developing an avoidable infection. When their negligence causes them to fail in that duty, you could be entitled to compensation. Let a Poughkeepsie avoidable infection lawyer help you pursue your claim for monetary damages by calling and speaking to one now.