Most Ohio patients likely believe the hospitals at which they receive medical treatment are clean and sterile. Each year, however, thousands of patients contract diseases and acquire infections as a direct result of hospitals' poor sterilization and sanitation practices. A patient who develops such an infection may consider filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.

From 2004 through 2009 an estimated 11,000 United States veterans underwent colonoscopies at VA hospitals in three separate states. Review of the hospitals' procedures proved that the tubing used in many of these procedures was not properly cleaned or sanitized. As a result, hospital officials warned veterans may have been exposed to blood borne illnesses including hepatitis C.

One U.S. veteran who underwent a colonoscopy and polyp removal procedure at one such hospital was recently awarded $750,000 after he contracted hepatitis C. The man's attorneys were able to present evidence proving the man likely contracted hepatitis C after being exposed to the dirty medical equipment despite the chances of doing so being extremely small.

The judge overseeing the case also awarded the man's wife a judgment in the amount of $500,000, bringing the total amount of compensation to $1.25 million.

Due to the negligent acts of the hospital and staff, a man now has a disease from which he'll likely suffer adverse life-long side effects. Medical errors such as this one are 100 percent preventable and inexcusable. Patients who have been injured as a result of similar medical errors in which hospital equipment was not properly cleaned or sterilized may want to consider filing a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Source: Outpatient Surgery, "Couple Gets $1.25 Million in Post-Colonoscopy Infection Judgment," Stephanie Wasek, Jan. 2, 2013