Surgeon Causes Bacterial Infection During Heart Procedure

An outbreak of staph infection at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center was traced to a surgeon’s inflamed and infected hands. According to a report in the New York Daily News, the microscopic tears in the latex gloves the doctor wore allowed the bacteria to infect five patients during the surgical procedure. All five patients who were infected were receiving heart valve replacements earlier. Those patients had to undergo another surgery to correct the problem, but survived and are recovering, the hospital said. Hospital administrators said heart valve replacement surgery requires surgeons to tie thick sutures and can cause stress and tear the gloves.
Hospital Infections
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 1.7 million healthcare-associated infections and 99,000 deaths from those infections in 2002. A recent CDC report estimated the annual medical costs of infections in U.S. hospitals to be between $28 and $45 billion, adjusted to 2007 dollars.
Causes and Liability Issues
When an infection occurs during surgery, there are a number of questions that must be asked. Was the surgeon negligent? Was the hospital or hospital staff negligent or careless? Did the patient receive proper care before, during and after the surgery? Were the surgical equipment properly sterilized? Did the hospital have safety policies and procedures in place? Were any of those policies violated?
If a surgeon or hospital is determined to have been negligent, they could be held accountable by filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Injured victims can seek compensation for damages including, but not limited to, medical expenses, lost wages and benefits, cost of additional surgery, rehabilitation, permanent injuries, past and future pain and suffering, etc.
If you or a loved one has been injured in New York as a result of medical negligence, the experienced New York personal injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Kenneth A. Wilhelm can provide you with more information about pursuing your legal rights. Our firm has recovered many millions of dollars for victims of medical negligence. Please call our offices 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-800-WORK-4-YOU (1-800-967-5496). We can also help with personal injury cases in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, or Florida. If you have been seriously injured in any of the 50 U.S. states, please call us and we will try to help you with your case.
Other phone numbers for us are:
1-800-RADIO-LAW, 1-888-WYPADEK, OR 1-800-LAS-LEYES
Please visit us at: www.WORK4YOULAW.com
Source: New York Daily News