Yes, but it can be difficult to receive compensation for your claim. Like all other medical malpractice claims, you need to prove that your infection could have been prevented if your healthcare provider had exercised a greater level of care during and after your surgery to prevent the infection. Infections after surgery can happen for a variety of reasons, such as the patient’s body reacting negatively to the surgery.

When a patient suffers an infection after surgery, he or she can require substantial follow-up medical care and need to take more time off work than he or she originally anticipated needing. The patient can face other expenses as well, such as emotional trauma and the need for hired domestic help while he or she recovers. In some cases, patients die as the result of their infections. In cases like this, their loved ones may seek compensation for their damages through wrongful death claims. Hospital-acquired infections are one of the leading causes of wrongful death in the United States.

Your lawyer can help you develop a medical malpractice claim that demonstrates that your infection could have been avoided.

Demonstrating that Negligence Occurred

This is key with any medical malpractice claim. It can be more difficult with an infection claim than with another type of claim because infections can develop even when a healthcare provider follows the correct standard of care.

To prove that your infection was due to healthcare provider negligence, you may need to prove that the operating room or hospital where your surgery was performed was not adequately clean or that the tools used to perform the surgery were not properly sterilized. This may be proved through photographs and testimonies and through previous records regarding the hospital’s cleanliness. You may also need to prove that your doctor acted in a way that another physician reasonably would not have acted, such as failing to wash his or her hands prior to performing the surgery or by failing to close and sterilize the incision properly.

Your lawyer can help you acquire and utilize evidence to demonstrate that negligence occurred and that because of the negligence, you acquired an infection and suffered damages.

Work with an Experienced Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you have contracted an infection after your surgery that you felt could have been prevented if the doctor or other hospital staff who attended to you had taken greater care to prevent it, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim. To determine this for sure, speak with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. Contact our team at Baizer Kolar, P.C. today to set up your free legal consultation with us.