Fort Lauderdale IV Infiltration Injury Attorney

This Fort Lauderdale IV Infiltration Injury Attorney Helps the Badly Injured

IV (or “intravenous”) therapy refers to a situation in which medical patients are administered intravenous medication (for example, antibiotics) through a catheter needle. The medication goes into the patient’s veins and then travels to the rest of body, hopefully bringing with it healing effects. IV therapy is typically administered through an arm or hand.

Nevertheless, IV therapy is not without risks. For example, the catheter needle is supposed to be placed into a vein. In this way, medication can enter into the vein and be carried throughout the rest of the body. However, sometimes the needle never actually makes it into the vein and instead protrudes into neighboring tissue. This is typically caused by negligence of a nurse or other medical staff member. For example, a nurse may fail to properly regulate the IV “flow rate,” causing too much medication to flow into the vein. The vein can only handle so much medication and, when too much enters, an injury may occur to the vein – causing medication to leak into the surrounding tissue.

A nurse may also repeatedly attempt to insert/place the catheter needle. This can cause injury to the vein as well, allowing the medication to leak into the surrounding tissue.

A nurse may also use a wrong-sized catheter needle, which can injure the vein in the same way as the above examples.

Finally, IV infiltration can be caused by a defective catheter or needle. Perhaps the catheter or needle was manufactured with a defect, or possibly something was done to it after its manufacturing to make it defective.

When any of these things happens, the medication can enter into the tissue surrounding the vein. This can cause a condition referred to as “IV infiltration” or “intravenous infiltration” (it is also referred to as “IV extravasion”). In the case of IV infiltration, the medicine which enters the tissue surrounding the vein can become toxic. It can cause, amongst other things, scarring where the medication touched the skin, permanent nerve damage, tissue death, paralysis of the limb that was injected, disfigurement, muscle damage, blisters, amputation, compartment syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS or RSD), skin ulcers and burns. IV extravasation may also cause an air embolus. This is caused when air gets into the IV during administration. An air embolus can often cause the death of the patient.

Call this Fort Lauderdale IV Infiltration Injury Law Firm for a free, no obligation consultation if you’ve been injured due to an Intravenous extravasation occurring anywhere in the State of Florida (including West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Miami, and Miami-Dade County).

If you call and decide to hire Mr. Quackenbush, he will work on contingency. This means that he doesn’t get a paid a dime until you’ve obtained compensation from your case. As such, there is no risk to you.

Necessary Advice for Clients of This Fort Lauderdale IV Infiltration Injury Lawyer

After an Intravenous infiltration occurs, you will typically experience immediate symptoms. These may include burning, pain or inflammation of the affected area. The skin around the extravasation may also feel cold and tight, and dressings around the IV site may become wet.

As such, it is the responsibility of the nurse or other medical provider overseeing your care to monitor your condition after the administration of an IV antibiotic. If you begin to complain of symptoms that could indicate an intravenous extravasation, then the nurse or other medical provider should immediately stop the administration of the medication and treat you accordingly. If the nurse doesn’t do this, then he or she can be held liable for whatever consequences result.

This South Florida Intravenous Infiltration Injury Law Firm Aggressively Pursues Justice on Behalf of Clients

If the IV infiltration in your case was caused by a nurse’s negligence, then you may have a case against the nurse him or herself, or the hospital where the nurse worked. You may have a case against the hospital itself because most nurses working in hospitals are employed by the hospitals. It is said that a hospital is responsible for the negligence of any of its employees under a theory of “respondeat superior.” This indicates that an employer is responsible for the negligence of an employee committed within the scope of the employment. That is, if an employee does something “off-the-clock” or not required by the job, then the employer won’t be responsible for it. However, if the employee commits negligence while on-the-clock and while performing a duty required by his or her employment, then his or her employer will typically be responsible for it. This is certainly true in the hospital-nurse relationship.

Finally, if your IV infiltration was caused by a defective catheter or needle, then your case may be against the manufacturer of the catheter or needle. This will be referred to a as a medical device products liability case.

For Help, Call This Broward County IV Infiltration Injury Attorney

Mr. Quackenbush doesn’t get paid anything until you’ve made a recovery in your case. As such, there is no risk to you. This is referred to as contingency.

If you’d like a free, no obligation consultation to talk about your case, contact Mr. Quackenbush at 954-448-7288 today if you’ve been hurt due to an intravenous infiltration happening anyplace in the State of Florida. Mr. Quackenbush will discuss your case at length and not charge you anything.