North Chicago & St. Louis Injury Updates
Frequent readers of our internet blog may remember an article we wrote previously regarding the procedures hospitals use to report infections within their facilities. In that article, we noted that post-surgical infections developed by U.S. patients are estimated to cause approximately 8,000 deaths annually.
Medical malpractice is a legal concept that at its core stands for the principle of trust. As patients, we place our trust in the competence and dedication of our health care providers to prevent avoidable injuries from causing us harm. Doctors, nurses and hospitals can breach that trust when they fail to exercise reasonable care to limit the exposure of their patients to preventable infections.
A recent scare from a drug-resistant bacteria is a good illustration of a potential medical malpractice situation. In February, the Food & Drug Administration issued a warning to health care professionals nationwide regarding a so-called “superbug” bacteria linked to a certain type of light and flexible tubular device called a duodenoscope. Typically, doctors use the device during specialized fluid draining procedures. The device is apparently unusually difficult to sterilize and is suspected in potentially transmitting a superbug to as many as 179 patients.
Although those incidents may not necessarily affect you, it is nevertheless an important example of how your medical professional’s negligence may worsen your current condition. Medical negligence is often difficult to prove. Most medical malpractice cases involving negligence require the testimony of experts who are familiar with the best practices used within the health care industry. These experts are often crucial in providing insight as to how hospitals and their staff members might have failed to exercise reasonable care to avoid patient harm.
Our Chicago personal injury law firm focuses on retaining the best experts available for the needs of our clients. Based in Chicago, our medical malpractice firm represents medical malpractice clients in several neighboring Illinois counties. One of the attorneys at our firm has over 20 years of legal experience and has previously orchestrated the multimillion dollar settlement of two medical malpractice cases. Prospective clients should also know that our firm charges no fee for initial case evaluations.