When someone heads to the hospital for care, they do so because they are facing an injury or illness that they need help with. While in some cases the condition that sends them there is not too serious, other times it can cause their lives to be on the line. Those who find themselves in this position are likely focused on getting better and little else.
Whether a patient chooses to think about it or not, however, things can happen in a hospital setting to make the condition of a patient even worse. An example is when a patient contracts an infection such as a superbug. Conditions that fall under this umbrella include:
- Clostridium difficile, or C. diff
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA
- Staphylococcus, or staph
Superbugs are dangerous because they are bacteria that is resistant to antibiotic. While anyone can find that they are fighting of an infection of this sort, this is particularly true when someone has a weak immune system or is already seriously ill.
This is an issue that all hospitals and health care providers should keep in mind. This is because of the high number of people who after contracting it, are unable to fight it off and may even die. Statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the infections listed above had something to do with the death of more than 50,000 each year.
The spread of superbug infections can be due to a variety of factors. When negligence on the part of a hospital worker is to blame, it is possible that the person who was hurt, or in the alternative, the family of the person who lost his or her life, could decide to file a lawsuit to try to recover damages.