If you or your loved one has been injured by a medical professional’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At Arfaa Law Group, our Baltimore medical malpractice attorneys can provide aggressive legal representation to you throughout the process. We understand that dealing with an adverse health outcome can be stressful, which is why we will handle your case with the utmost compassion.
In a recent study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) published in the journal mBio, scientists conducted a five-year study to explore the NIH hospital in Bethesda, Maryland to understand in a deeper way how hazardous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria live and develop. Often, bacteria thrive in hospital settings. Since very sick patients are sometimes treated with antibiotics of last resort, hospitals can become warehouses for multi-drug resistant bacteria, which can be easily transferred through tiny pieces of genetic material called “plasmids.” The NIH found that, many times, these plasmids live under the sink and in the plumbing. In fact, the bacteria from different sources mix and match, sharing their drug-resistant plasmid pieces.
The study found that the dangerous plasmids found in sewers and plumbing did not seem to be a contributing factor to increased infections among hospitalized patients. The safety protocols being taken at the hospital to control infections are working. However, while the bacteria from the plumbing is not reaching patients and increasing infection rates, there is still a huge storehouse of general material present in the plumbing and backwater of the hospital sewer system.
If you or someone close to you has suffered a hospital-acquired infection due to medical malpractice, you may be able to recover damages for your harm. A hospital-acquired infection is defined as an infection that occurs in a hospital patient and is not associated with the patient’s admitted diagnosis or health issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 23,000 people die each year from antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, and another two million become sick.
Medical malpractice takes place when a medical professional’s conduct leads to an infection because he or she failed to adhere to the standard of care that another medical professional in the same specialty would have maintained in the same situation. The standard of care will vary in each situation, depending on a number of factors, including a patient’s age and medical history. You should be aware that it is not simply enough to show that the medical professional’s conduct deviated from the appropriate standard of care; the plaintiff must also establish that the deviation was a direct and proximate cause of the injury.
If you or a loved one has suffered a hospital-acquired infection, you need to contact a reputable Baltimore hospital malpractice attorney. At Arfaa Law Group, we are committed to holding negligent medical professionals accountable while pursuing the maximum compensation possible in your case. You can rest assured we will conduct a thorough investigation to determine who is responsible for your harm. We proudly take on clients from all over Maryland. To schedule a complimentary consultation, call us at 410-889-1850 or reach us online.
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