“Clearly, children with cancer are at disproportional risk of line related sepsis and they should receive the super hydrophilic PICC lines and other central lines which substantially reduces the risk of infection and sepsis,” states Greg Vigna, MD, JD, National Sepsis Attorney.
Greg Vigna, MD, JD, national pharmaceutical injury attorney explains, “Old, obsolete technology polyurethane and silicone PICC lines and other central lines do nothing to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections. The best way to prevent the disabilities that survivors of sepsis suffer is to prevent the infections. The technology is there, and my alliance to national pharmaceutic injury attorneys is here.”
What did Dr. Bruna Salgado Rabelo, MD, report in “Risk factors for catheter-related infection in children with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis”, in the American Journal of Infection Control, 51 (2023) 99-106?
“About 14%-51% of central venous catheters implanted in children with cancer may complicate with central venous catheters, mainly by agents present on the skin and mucous membranes, such as coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida species.
Administration of blood products and total parenteral nutrition, hematological malignancies, neutropenia, thrombosis, and the use of non−tunneled catheters are considered risk factors for catheter-related infections.
Among long-term catheters, tunneled, lumen diameter greater than 7 French, and multi-lumen devices presented the higher incidence of infections.”
Read Dr. Rabelo’s study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0196655322004138
Dr. Vigna states, “Nurses and other staff in neonatal intensive care units work daily to decrease the hospitals central line-associated bloodstream infections by utilizing Care Bundle Interventions that may include ChloraPrep and use best practice central line maintenance. Patients and their care givers should have access to super hydrophilic central venous catheters that decrease bacterial colonization of the tubing that leads to infection and sepsis.”
Dr. Vigna continues, “Understanding the long-term disability that sepsis survivors often suffer is paramount to understanding this problem. Neonates who suffer sepsis are at risk for cerebral palsy. Adults who suffer sepsis are at risk for cognitive, psychological, and long-term physical disabilities related to multi-system failure including kidney failure, amputation, liver failure, and critical illness polyneuropathy. Prevention of the infection is the most effective way to prevent disability. One-third of hospital acquired sepsis is related to central-lines, PICCs, and mid-lines.”
What is sepsis? Multiple organ damage from inflammation as a result of infection that may result in organ damage to the brain, kidney, heart, liver, and lung.
What is septic shock? A life-threatening condition that causes dangerously low blood pressure due to infection that may result in amputations of fingers and toes, brain damage, kidney failure, ventilator dependence, oxygen dependence, and nerve damage.
Dr. Vigna is a California and Washington DC lawyer who represents those with serious injuries caused by defective medical devices including PICC line, midlines, central lines, and MedPorts. He represents the injured with the Ben Martin Law Group, a national pharmaceutical injury law firm in Dallas, Texas. The attorneys are product liability and medical malpractice attorneys, and they represent the most injured across the country and have alliances with attorneys across the country.
