Earlier this month, Dr. John Heaton, medical director for Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, admitted that five children who were treated at the facility died as a result of a fungal infection contracted from the hospital’s bed linens. These incidents occurred between August 2008 and July 2009, though the public news about the infection is coming out just now. Reports from various sources say that he victims ranged in age from 35 days old to 13 years old.
Our personal injury attorneys take the preventable death of all patients seriously, and we’d like to take a look at this Children’s Hospital case right now.
About the Fungal Infection at Children’s Hospital
As noted in Rebecca Catalenello’s NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune report on April 17th (which you can read by clicking here), the flesh-eating fungal infection was caused by mucormycosis, which is commonly “found in dirt and decaying organic matter such as leaves.”
Cassandra Gee, the mother of a premature child who died while in neonatal intensive care at Children’s Hospital in August 2008, said that she noticed a scratch near her child’s groin that became a severe infection overnight.
Gee suspected that her child had contracted a disease of some kind, yet she was never informed by Children’s Hospital about a potential fungal infection. Instead, Gee learned about the infection through an April 16th NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune report also by Catalenello that detailed the outbreak.
Children’s Hospital Regrets Its Slowness When Informing the Families of These Findings
As noted in Catalanello’s NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune report, Dr. Heaton expressed regret over the hospital’s slowness with regard to informing the families who suffered from these deaths.
“It’s personally appalling to me that we find that some of the families are finding out that their child was involved in this outbreak by reading the newspaper,” Dr. Heaton said. He added, “We failed to do what we should have done.”
Could Children’s Hospital have acted sooner to control the potential outbreak?
There are interesting details about Children’s Hospital’s response to these incidents during the timeframe of the fatal infections.
In John Simerman’s April 19th report for The New Orleans Advocate (which you can read by clicking here), he notes that in March 2009, doctors at Children’s Hospital failed to perform a biopsy on a 13-year-old-patient who had a large black spot appear in his armpit. After more than 20 procedures were performed to prevent the spread of the infection, the patient died of a herpes infection on May 17th, 2009.
Simerman’s report quotes Dr. Heaton, who noted that the mucormycosis infection is very rare, and it tends to affect those who have immune systems that have been severely compromised.
Legal Options for Medical Negligence Such As This
The search for the truth about the tragedy at Children’s Hospital will continue. It’s important that families understand that there are legal options to consider following the loss of a child, particularly at the hands of medical professionals.
The wrongful death attorneys of Harrell & Nowak have held doctors and hospitals accountable for their actions in the past, and we will continue to do so when they fail to live up to a professional standard of care. By teaming with skilled attorneys, the families of medical negligence victims can receive peace of mind following the painful loss of a loved one. In addition, cases that bring to light shortcomings in medical care can lead to positive reforms that save others in the future from a similar tragedy.
Learn More About Your Legal Options
If you or someone that you care about has suffered due to the negligence of another person or party, we encourage you to contact our New Orleans personal injury lawyers today. The legal team at Harrell & Nowak are advocates for victims and their families. We are here for you.