Are Home Health Care Providers Liable for Injuries Caused by a Home Ventilator?

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Some patients who receive home health care services use a home ventilator to help treat breathing issues. Although patients may depend on ventilators to breathe, defects and malfunctions can lead to severe injuries or illness for ventilator users. Under certain circumstances, a home health care provider may bear responsibility for a patient’s harm caused by a home ventilator.

How Can Home Ventilators Cause Injuries?

Home ventilators, including breathing assistance machines like CPAP and BiPAP machines, can injure patients in various ways. Home ventilators can suffer from various defects or malfunctions. For example, a design or manufacturing defect or a malfunction may cause a ventilator to push too much air into a patient’s lungs or may not provide sufficient airflow. Some models of home ventilators have even been found to have defects with their foam insulation, with foam particles ending up in the airflow where they can be inhaled by patients and damage the lungs. Examples of injuries that home ventilators can cause include:

• Pneumothorax, or a build-up of air outside the lungs within the chest cavity
• Oxygen toxicity, or damage caused by excess oxygen in the lungs
• Pulmonary embolism
• Blood clots
• Lung infections such as pneumonia
• Abrasions of the trachea and lungs
• Throat or lung cancer

When a patient requires the use of a home ventilator, injuries or medical conditions caused by that ventilator can complicate the patient’s recovery or lead to permanent loss of lung function.

When Might a Home Health Care Provider Be Liable for Home Ventilator Injuries?

A home health care provider might bear liability for injuries a patient suffers due to a home ventilator under certain circumstances. For example, a provider may be liable for a patient’s injuries when the provider miscalibrates the patient’s ventilator, such as by causing the ventilator to push too much or too little air. A home health care provider might also be liable for failing to notice signs or symptoms of injuries or illnesses caused by ventilators or for failing to obtain appropriate medical care for a patient suffering from a personal injury or illness caused by a home ventilator.

When a home health care provider supplies the patient with a ventilator, the provider may bear liability for a patient’s injuries or illness if the provider uses a ventilator known to suffer from design or manufacturing defects or if they source a defective ventilator from an unknown or not well-established manufacturer. If the provider has a responsibility to maintain the ventilator, it may be liable for a patient’s injuries if the home ventilator malfunctions.

Proving Home Health Care Negligence

Proving that a home health care provider’s negligence caused your or your loved one’s home ventilator injuries may require various pieces of evidence. Medical records can document the injuries or illnesses caused by a home ventilator. You may also need the home health care provider’s treatment notes to determine how the provider may have set up and calibrated the ventilator. If you suspect that the ventilator may have injured you due to a defect or malfunction, you might need an engineering inspection of the ventilator, along with the ventilator’s repair and maintenance records, to identify the nature of any defects or malfunctions.

In most cases, you will also need expert testimony from healthcare professionals to explain how a home health care provider’s negligence caused your injuries from a home ventilator. This expert testimony must explain what the applicable standard of care was for your treatment and opine as to how the home health care provider’s actions failed to comply with this standard and led to your or your loved one’s injuries.

What Compensation Can You Recover for Home Ventilator Injuries?

After you or a family member has suffered injuries or illnesses from a defective or malfunctioning home ventilator due to a home health care provider’s negligence, you might have the right to recover compensation for losses caused by your injuries, including:

• Medical treatment and therapy
• Additional long-term care costs for disabilities or impairments caused by your injury or illness
• Lost income if your injuries or illness disable you from work
• Pain and suffering
• Reduced quality of life or life expectancy

Pursuing Claims Against a Home Health Care Provider

Pursuing financial recovery from a home health care provider for injuries or illnesses caused by a home ventilator can be challenging. Working with an experienced medical malpractice attorney can give you the best chance to obtain compensation from an at-fault home health care provider. An attorney can thoroughly investigate the facts and circumstances underlying your injury or illness to secure any evidence showing that the home health care provider’s negligence caused or contributed to injuries from a home ventilator. A lawyer can retain medical experts to explain how the home health care provider’s actions failed to meet the applicable standard of care in your case. Your lawyer can also document your or your loved one’s injuries and losses to make sure you receive compensation for your ongoing and future expenses and needs. When necessary, a lawyer can file a malpractice lawsuit and pursue your claims in court and at trial when a settlement cannot be reached.

Contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney If You’ve Been Harmed by a Home Ventilator

When you or a loved one has suffered injuries or developed a medical condition due to a home ventilator, you may have legal claims to recover compensation for your financial and personal losses. Depending on the circumstances leading to your injury, you might even have a claim against a home health care provider if their negligence caused or contributed to your or your loved one’s injury from a defective or malfunctioning home ventilator. Proving a home health care provider’s liability for home ventilator injuries can be a complex task. An experienced medical malpractice attorney can help you investigate your claims and pursue a case against a home health care provider who bears responsibility for your harm and loss.

Contact The Epstein Law Firm, P.A., today for a free, no-obligation consultation to speak with a medical malpractice attorney about your legal options for pursuing compensation and accountability when a home health care provider’s negligence caused you or a loved one to suffer injuries from a home ventilator.