Medical Negligence: Failure to Treat Infection

Failure to treat an infection can result in a patient having a medical malpractice action against the physician, nurse or hospital responsible for caring for your infection. Below is an explanation of why failing to treat an infection constitutes medical negligence and the aspects of any subsequent lawsuit.

Medical Negligence Explained

Medical negligence, sometimes referred to as malpractice, occurs when a nurse, physician or hospital does not provide treatment to a patient that falls within normal standards of care. The normal standard of care is defined by what another medical professional would have done in the same situation. Negligence can take the form of not recording important information, not administering the correct type or amount of medication or in ignoring the need to treat a patient differently.

Medical Negligence and Infections

Failing to treat an infection can be a type of medical negligence. Infections, if left untreated, can cause a patient pain or for his condition to become more severe. Sometimes, if left untreated an infection can become incurable and the patient will suffer permanent damage as a result.

Failing to treat an infection with the proper medications, not administering those medications properly, not identifying that a patient has an infection or stopping medications prior to the infection being cured constitute malpractice. There are other types of behavior in treating an infection that would also constitute malpractice, but the main concern is that the treatment somehow falls short of what would be normal and that the patient be injured as a result.

Medical Negligence Damages

A patient claiming that medical negligence occurred because his infection was improperly treated must show that the treatment he received caused him harm or other damages. Needing to undergo another round of antibiotics because an infection was not completely cured by the first type of antibiotic may not constitute malpractice if the antibiotics originally prescribed should have cured the infection but did not. This I because no medication is guaranteed to work on a particular patient; therefore, additional treatments may be required at any time.

However, if the subsequently administered medications were painful or unnecessary, a patient may have a cause of action. This would likely require the patient to prove that the first type of antibiotics would not have cured his infection and that this information was or should have been known by the physician, nurse or hospital.

Obtaining Legal Advice

If your infection was not treated properly and you incurred damages as a result, seek legal advice. A lawyer will review the facts of your case and discuss with you whether you have a cause of action to recover for your injuries.