Posted On: November 4, 2006
Medical malpractice verdict against hospital for failure to maintain clean environment
Bringing a successful case for medical malpractice in Illinois for aquiring an infection in the hospital can be difficult because it can be hard to prove when and where the infection first occurred. Without this evidence it is difficult to prove negligence. I am not aware of an Illinois case that has been successful on this issue. Let me know if you have heard of one.
This West Virginia case appears to have overcome the problems with proximate cause.
Allison Riggs went to a West Virginia hospital for a routine knee operation and left with a severe infection that, over the course of the next four years, ate away at the interior of her knee until the metal hardware used to hold the knee together migrated up into her thigh. Although the jury awarded $10.1 million for her pain and suffering, the trial judge reduced the verdict to $1 million based on the state's statutory cap on non-economic damages. In spite of the reduction, plaintiff's attorney Paul Farrell Jr. (ATLA Member) said the verdict is significant because it is the first in West Virginia and one of the first in the country in which a hospital has been found liable for failing to maintain a clean environment."Natalie White, Lawyers USA, 10/9/06 (Subscribers Only)
http://www.lawyersusaonline.com/subscriber/archives.cfm?page=usa/06/A090655.htm
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