Many aspects of medical care require access to safe, well-screened blood products, uncontaminated blood cultures, and proper sterilization of the medical tools that penetrate the patient’s bloodstream or circulatory system.
Suffering serious illness from a preventable bacterial or viral infection caused by blood contamination in a medical facility or receiving inaccurate test results due to a contaminated blood culture, is actionable medical malpractice. A Chicago medical malpractice lawyer can help you understand your legal rights and options for financial recovery.
According to medical experts, it’s difficult to determine the prevalence of blood contamination in medical facilities due to the lack of a standard definition of contamination; however, the accepted medical community standard requires that less than 3% of blood cultures become contaminated, with an optimized goal of 1%.
Unfortunately, when a medical facility fails to properly train and monitor staff, fails to properly screen blood products, or a medical provider fails to follow protocols, the result can be contaminated blood products and medical implements. Contaminants introduce dangerous pathogens into a patient’s bloodstream, with illnesses ranging from infection and sepsis to HIV and hepatitis.
A hospital or other medical facility may be held liable for a patient’s damages if the patient suffers a preventable infection from blood contamination.
Hospitals have a legal obligation to ensure that the facility has proper protocols in place and that all staff members receive adequate training and monitoring to prevent contamination of blood products and cultures, as well as to properly sterilize medical tools and equipment to prevent bloodborne infections.
Despite this legal duty of care, the following common causes of hospital blood contamination sometimes occur:
Failing to prevent blood contamination is medical malpractice and presents a serious danger to a patient who may contract a serious and even life-threatening bacterial or viral infection.
Suffering an infection, a worsened medical outcome, or wrongful death caused by blood contamination is actionable medical malpractice. Although a successful malpractice claim against the negligent facility or provider doesn’t erase the harm, it achieves a sense of justice and financial accountability through financial compensation.
The evidence in the case must demonstrate the following for a successful medical malpractice claim:
The total damages in blood contamination cases vary depending on the severity of the harm caused by the malpractice. If blood contamination in a Chicago hospital causes wrongful death, a close family member can recover compensation for their family’s grievous losses.
A successful medical malpractice claim in a blood-contamination case recovers both tangible economic damages, such as medical expenses and lost income, and intangible non-economic damages, such as compensation for pain and suffering and catastrophic injury.
Catastrophic injuries are permanent harm, such as disability or diminished quality of life. A Chicago medical malpractice lawyer carefully calculates an injury victim’s past, present, and future damages to maximize their financial recovery so they can focus on their physical healing.
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