Medical malpractice lawsuits over hospital acquired infections that include MRSA are increasing in the US.

In July, a Missouri couple was awarded $2.58 million after the husband contracted a MRSA infection when doctors inserted a pacemaker. As a result of the infection, the patient lost a kidney and a leg and a foot had to be amputated.

Medical-malpractice defense attorney Neal M. Brown said of the threat of hospital-acquired infections, “What we’re dealing with here is a national phenomenon”. Hospitals are “well-aware” of the danger to patients and are taking strong steps to prevent it, added Brown. These steps include the screening of patients for MRSA on admission to the hospital and frequent hand washing by medical and support staff.

Mary Coffey, an attorney at Coffey Nichols in St. Louis, won the $2.58 million verdict on behalf of the 69-year-old Missouri man who contracted MRSA through an IV that was administered in the ambulance following a heart attack. When doctors later inserted a pacemaker, the infection spread. Although the traditional stance maintained by people in the medical community was that hospital acquired infections are a just part of the risk of being in a hospital, she asserts that the rate of patient infection is “close to zero” when health care personnel comply with strict hygiene protocols.

McCaughy, founder and chair of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths, a nonprofit patient safety organization in New York says, “Now that the evidence is overwhelming that nearly all infections are preventable, hospitals that don’t follow the proven protocols are inviting lawsuits.”

Read more about increasing MRSA Infection Lawsuits.