Travis Barker, a drummer for the band Blink 182, asserts that he suffered ongoing, potentially permanent nerve damage due to medical malpractice. He alleges that he was repeatedly stuck by a dirty needle, leading to a staph infection and nerve damage. He also developed blood clots. The ordeal started after he went to an imaging center in Santa Monica for a routine MRI. However, technicians had difficulty locating a vein leading to more than 40 attempts.
Unfortunately hospital acquired infections (HAIs) occur more recently than many realize. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that “HAIs affect 5 to 10 percent of hospitalized patients in the U.S. per year.” They further note “Approximately 1.7 million HAIs occur in U.S. hospitals each year, resulting in 99,000 deaths and an estimated $20 billion in healthcare costs.”
The most common types include:
- 32 percent of all healthcare acquired infection are urinary tract infections
- 22 percent are surgical site infections
- 15 percent are pneumonia (lung infections)
- 14 percent are bloodstream infections
Often infections may be preventable with proper sanitation and sterilization, including common sense actions such as hand washing.
When the failure to properly sterilize equipment or monitor wounds lead to an infection, it may be possible to file a medical malpractice claim to recover damages including the cost of future medical expenses and therapy.
For more information or if you have suffered harm due to a hospital acquired infection, please contact the dedicated Los Angeles medical malpractice lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson LLP for an immediate consultation.