Deaths Linked to Fungal Infection in Rooms at UPMC Hospital
Another Patient Death Linked to Fungal Infection at UPMC Hospital
An autopsy by University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) has revealed that the July 9 death of Daniel Krieg, 56, of St. Marys in Elk County, Pennsylvania is related to a fungal infection that developed after a kidney transplant.
According to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Krieg’s autopsy revealed the presence of rhizopus, a type of mold that has been linked to previous UPMC patient deaths, including the 2014 death of Tracy Fischer, 47, of Erie, Pennsylvania after a heart transplant. Fischer’s family later sued UPMC and won a $1.35 million settlement.
“Fischer was treated in the same room of [UPMC] Presbyterian’s cardiothoracic intensive care unit in which two heart transplant patients with fungal infections received treatment before dying. Che DuVall, 70, of Perryopolis died in February, and an unnamed patient died in June 2015. Another unnamed patient died in September at UPMC Montefiore.”
According to previous reports, UPMC shut down its transplant unit in September 2015 for six days after identifying mold in several patients.
After three patient deaths in the same year, the Center for Disease Control conducted a study and found that all of the victims had been kept in a “negative-pressure room” at UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC Montefiore. The CDC advised UPMC not to house transplant patients with compromised immune systems in negative pressure rooms.
According to an update by the CDC in May, both UPMC hospitals had stopped using negative pressure rooms, which “has been previously identified as a risk a risk factor for invasive mold infections, possibly related to the potential to concentrate dust and mold spores in these rooms.”
If you or a loved one has experienced illness or infection after surgery, please contact your doctor immediately. If you need to consult a lawyer, Pribanic & Pribanic’s Medical Malpractice Attorneys give free consultations and handle medical malpractice cases involving: Birth injuries, Surgical errors, Hospital negligence, Nursing neglect/malpractice, Failure to diagnose, Anesthesia malpractice, Failure to monitor, Plastic surgery errors, Medication errors, Hospital infections, Gastric bypass errors and related injuries.
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