Baby dies after contracting flesh eating virus from bed linens

Giving birth prematurely can be a scary thing for many mothers but they often trust that most hospital neonatal units know what to do and will provide the best possible care to their child. But as our San Francisco County readers will soon see, this trust can be broken when a child dies and that death turns out to be because of hospital negligence. And no matter what state you’re in, be it here in California or somewhere else, this can leave any parent wanting justice.

We can see this in a case out of Louisiana where parents of a premature infant boy are suing the hospital where he was born. Nearly a month after being delivered in the hospital, the boy’s mother noticed an irritation that quickly developed into what appeared to be an open wound. The child later died from his condition, which doctors described as sepsis. But it wasn’t until six years later that they learned why this had happened.

After reading an article this year about five reported deaths at the children’s hospital where their son was born, the couple learned that their son had come into contact with a flesh eating bacteria during his stay at the hospital in 2008. The bacteria exposure was linked to the hospital’s linens in its neonatal unit.

The child’s parents believe that the hospital failed to properly sanitize the contaminated linens and it was because of this negligence that their son died.

If a similar accident were to have happened in California, then parents here might take legal action just like the couple in this case did. A wrongful death claim against the hospital, just as with this case, would seek damages for the hospital’s negligence and would likely be used to cover funeral and medical expenses. And although it will not bring back their loved one, it may prevent another accident like this from happening to another family in the future.

Source: Courthouse News, Service, “Hospital Linen Blamed for Preemie’s Death,” Kevin Koeninger, April 23, 2014