Infection injury

Infection injuries refer to infections, which the patient has probably contracted in connection with an examination, treatment or other similar action. Unlike treatment injuries, infection injuries can be compensated for without determining whether the infection could have been avoided by acting differently. All treatment procedures carry some risk of infection and the risks are hard to avoid. In practice, this means that ordinary, superficial, fast healing infections will always fall outside the scope of compensation.

Thus, all injuries caused by infection are not compensated. The compensability of the injury is decided based on a separate ‘infection tolerance evaluation’. This evaluation takes into account the infection risk in each individual case. The infection risk comprises the risk related to the procedure and possible underlying conditions, injuries or medication of the patient that may contribute to the elevated risk. Moreover, the evaluation will take into account the severity of the injury caused by the infection, the nature of the illness or injury being treated as well as the overall health of the patient.

The patient is expected to tolerate more serious consequences of an infection the more serious the original illness or injury was that resulted in the infection and the higher the risk of infection. Yet, despite the increased risk, an injury caused by an infection may be compensable if it is rare and sudden.