Mrsa-vre

[Darrock]

My husband was admitted to the hospital for a massive heart attack in August. During his stay there have been several times the nurses went against doctors orders, a few of those times was giving him pain meds when the doctor said not to, in which 1 nurse did give it to him, and told me, then lied to the doctor and said she didn't. At which time my husband had been taken in for emergency surgery several times and at any time could have been taken in again, and by the nurse lying could have caused serious issues during surgery. Since then he has had several tests for infections, because of his health risks. He has a Vad device in place and had a dialysis port and picline in place. 2 and a half months later, he was diagnosed with MRSA and VRE, and the nurse told me it was because he was a carrier and with his immune system low he could not fight it and it's in his bloodstream and in his situation can prove fatal. He has never had MRSA at all, and the only place outside his bloodstream it was found, is at his dialysis port and picline. I am not a doctor, but I also feel if he was a carrier, they would have found the staph earlier and I would have heard something about it before, being that he had so many tests for infection, and with it only found outside the blood at his ports, would mean his ports were contaminated during his stay. Later the same day the nurse told me he was a carrier, the doctor told me he was not surprised my husband got it, for he has been bed bound for a very long time, and 10 other people on that floor have MRSA and other infections. I feel I should have his medical records examined by someone, don't know who, my husband is only 41 years old, I have never dealt with anything like this and wasn't expecting to have to. My question is would it be smart to have this case looked at closer by an attorney, or can you give me any information at all to help me? It's in Lexington, KY. and out of the state we live in so I'm not sure where to even go.

[Adofo]

Lisa,

I am sorry your husband as had such a difficult time.  I do suggest you and your husband visit with a malpractice attorney in Lexington.  You should be able to get an appointment to have an attorney review the case free of charge because of your husband's age and the potential of damages.

You should also have an infectious disease doctor review the labwork to determine the cause of the MRSA.

I wish your husband a full recovery.

Very truly yours,

Paul D. Friedman, M.A., Ph.D., J.D.