The problem isn’t new, but it’s one that many Calgarians might not be aware of—and that lack of awareness can have serious consequences for you and your family. Read on to see what your medical professionals might be doing—and might not be doing—that could be putting your health at significant risk.
Proper Hygiene and Sterilization Practices in Calgary Hospitals
When people are treated by medical professionals as patients in a Calgary-area hospital, they expect to be made well as quickly and completely as possible. No one wants to linger unnecessarily in a hospital room, stay bed-ridden for longer than necessary, or acquire additional illnesses and symptoms instead of getting better. And yet, due to improper or incomplete sterilization and professional hygiene practices, these are the potential outcomes for patients and their family members.
Transferring infectious agents like bacteria and certain viruses from one patient to another has been a major concern of modern medicine for over a century. Before these “germs” were discovered in the 19th century, many patients routinely died due to infections spread by improperly cleaned equipment and inadequate hygiene amongst physicians, nurses, and orderlies. Unfortunately, discovering how these infections are spread has not led to the total prevention of their spreading, and something as simple as regular hand sanitizing is still overlooked by some medical professionals. This results in added risks and added injuries to patients, and is still responsible for thousands of deaths across Canada every year.
Things are far better than they were in the 19th century, of course, both in terms of how medicine is practiced and in terms of your legal rights when you or a family member is subjected to an illness due to improper procedures on the part of medical professionals. There are now professional guidelines and legislation that govern the sanitation and hygiene practices in hospitals and amongst medical professionals, and a violation of these guidelines/laws that results in serious injury or medical complications to a patient can be grounds for a medical malpractice suit. In the most severe cases of hospital-acquired infections, the institution and the medical professionals in charge of patient care can be held liable in a wrongful death suit.
You go to the hospital to be healed, and proper procedures are part of ensuring that healing process. When those procedures aren’t followed, it’s important to hold your medical team responsible and get the justice you deserve.
Contact an Experienced Calgary Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
If you or a family member has been the victim of hospital or medical professional negligence resulting in an infection or other serious injury, contact Cuming & Gillespie LLP today for a free consultation. Our lawyers only work with injury victims, and we handle medical malpractice cases every day. We know how to protect your rights and how to hold the Calgary medical community accountable for its actions—or inactions—when they cause injuries to ordinary citizens. Don’t suffer through this alone—call today and get the help you deserve!