The New York Times (4/29) reports on its front page from New Orleans about four children who died at Children’s Hospital “of various causes between August 2008 and July 2009 during an outbreak of a flesh-eating fungal infection, mucormycosis, most likely spread by bed linens, towels or gowns, according to a medical journal.” The disclosure of the deaths this month “caused new pain for the families of the children and raised troubling questions about how the infections came about, why doctors did not connect the cases until more than 10 months after the first death, and what obligation the hospital had to inform parents – and the community – of the outbreak.” The questions “take on greater urgency, experts say, because deadly fungal infections, while still rare, appear to be on the rise nationwide,” and which “may be because of changes in the environment and a larger pool of vulnerable people with suppressed immune systems because patients are living longer with serious illnesses.
From the desk of the President of the Liever, Hyman & Potter law firm, John Badal’s AAJ News Brief for April 29, 2014.
Our office in Reading, PA serving clients in Berks, Schuylkill and all Eastern and Central Pennsylvania Counties for more than 65 years. We have been involved in many cases involving careless medical care resulting in injury and death to children as well as adults. These are heartrending matters that require special attention and care because families are often confronting a very personal and life altering crisis.