Aug. 22, 2012
Doctors take an oath to ensure their patients’ health is never jeopardized by negligence. Even still, sometimes errors are made though that could expose a patient to potentially fatal infections.
Recently 64 colonoscopy patients in Alamosa, Colorado were possibly exposed to diseases, such as Hepatitis and HIV, at San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center. The Pueblo Chieftain reports the exposure took place between July 17, when a new cleaning system was installed for colonoscopy medical instruments, and August 13. The latter date is when staff discovered E. Coli bacteria on the instruments and determined through testing that the new cleaning system had not been working properly.
Since the discovery, the hospital has sent letters and directly contacted all but one of the at-risk patients, instructing them to be tested for all forms of Hepatitis, as well as HIV. Hospital officials say the patients could have potentially been exposed to less serious bacterial infections.
Contaminated surgical instruments and the negligence of medical staff that causes a patient to suffer from an infection has often been the basis for Colorado personal injury claims and medical malpractice cases.
This is why the Colorado Personal Injury Lawyers with the McDivitt Law Firm would encourage patients who have been injured due to a failure to properly clean surgical instruments to contact an attorney to discuss your legal rights as soon as possible.
