Doctors can rest assured that full sterile skin preparations are not required for soft-tissue injections, despite media reports suggesting a NSW Court of Appeal ruled they are.
Ruling in May, two of three Supreme Court of NSW judges found no reason to overturn a previous ruling that GP Dr Paul Sarian’s negligence caused Alaine Elton’s Streptococcus milleri infection, and resultant disability.
Following reports in Rheumatology Update and other medical press that the finding implied a clean non touch” approach had been inadequate, the AMA said it had been swamped with calls from concerned doctors, worried they needed to change their practice.
Medical defence organisation, Avant, later published a response, pointing out the reports’ inaccuracies.
In the original finding, the judge found Dr Sarian had probably touched a non-sterile part of skin and transferred the bacteria onto the injection site, causing the tissue infection, but did not find the “clean non touch” technique itself to be inadequate.
The Court of Appeal was largely concerned with legal questions about the role of the court in overturning previous decisions.
Although one appeal judge ordered a retrial and recommended costs be awarded to the plaintiff, the other two dismissed the appeal and ordered Dr Sarian to pay the plaintiff’s costs.