When you check into a hospital seeking treatment, the last thing you should have to worry about is leaving in worse condition than when you arrived. Hospital-acquired infections affect approximately one in every 31 patients on any given day, turning what should be a path to recovery into a devastating setback, permanently altering your life.

At Wagner Reese, our attorneys understand how profoundly a hospital infection can upend your health, your finances, and your future. With over 150 combined years of experience handling complex medical malpractice cases across Indiana, our team has the knowledge and commitment to pursue accountability on your behalf. We work on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you.

What Is a Hospital-Acquired Infection?

A hospital-acquired infection (HAI), also known as a healthcare-associated infection, is an infection a patient contracts during the course of receiving medical treatment, not present or incubating at the time of admission. These infections can stem from bacteria, viruses, or fungi that spread through a facility and take hold in patients whose immune systems are already under stress.

Common Types of Hospital Infections

HAIs take several forms, and some carry far more serious consequences than others. The following are common types of hospital-acquired infections that patients in Indianapolis and throughout Indiana may encounter:

  • Surgical site infections (SSIs): Bacteria entering through incisions or wounds made during a procedure, sometimes requiring reoperation
  • Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs): Dangerous bloodstream infections linked to catheters inserted into large veins
  • Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs): Urinary infections resulting from prolonged catheter use
  • Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): A drug-resistant bacterial infection, particularly difficult to treat and capable of spreading rapidly
  • Clostridioides difficile (C. diff): A bacterial infection causing severe gastrointestinal illness, often triggered by antibiotic overuse

Each of these conditions can be traced back to failures in sanitation protocols, inadequate sterilization, or insufficient staff training and oversight. Understanding which type of infection you developed is an important step in building your case.

When Does a Hospital Infection Become Malpractice?

Not every HAI gives rise to a legal claim, but many do. A hospital or healthcare provider may be legally responsible when the infection resulted from a failure to meet the accepted standard of care. This could mean improperly sterilized equipment, failure to follow hand hygiene protocols, improper wound care following surgery, or an institution’s systemic neglect of infection-control policies.

If a failure to diagnose the infection in a timely manner worsened your outcome, the delay itself may constitute malpractice. Similarly, if surgical errors during your procedure contributed to the infection, additional claims may be available. Indiana law requires demonstrating that the healthcare provider’s conduct fell below the standard a reasonably competent provider would have met under the same circumstances.

Proving a breach of standard typically requires expert medical testimony and a thorough review of your medical records, facility inspection reports, and infection control logs. This is exactly the kind of detailed, high-stakes litigation our attorneys at Wagner Reese are experienced in handling.

Why You Need an Experienced Attorney on Your Side

Hospitals and their insurance companies have teams of lawyers focused on minimizing liability. Taking on institutional defense alone puts you at an enormous disadvantage. Our attorneys bring the litigation depth and case experience necessary to take on well-resourced defendants and fight for the compensation you deserve.

Cases involving unsanitary surgical equipment or widespread facility-level contamination can involve multiple liable parties, including hospitals, surgical centers, staffing agencies, and equipment manufacturers. When an infection leads to permanent disability or the loss of a loved one, wrongful death claims may also be available to surviving family members.

According to the CDC’s Healthcare-Associated Infections data, on any given day, about 1 in 31 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection, and tens of thousands of patients die from these infections every year. These are not inevitable outcomes. They are preventable, and when a hospital’s negligence is to blame, those responsible must be held accountable.

Contact Wagner Reese: Hospital Infection Lawyers in Indianapolis, IN

Wagner Reese has been serving injury victims throughout Indiana since the firm’s founding in 2000, and our attorneys are consistently recognized by Super Lawyers and named among The Best Lawyers in America. As a Tier-One Best Law Firm year after year, we take only the cases where we believe we can make a real difference, and we bring focused commitment to every hospital infection case we handle.

If you have developed an infection during a hospital stay, our team is ready to review your situation and help you understand your options. Reach out to us to get started, and let us put our experience to work for you.