A medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit reportedly was filed in August 2018 against Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (“CHOP”), alleging that a premature baby treated at the hospital in 2016 was one of 23 infants who contracted a virus while being treated in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
The Philadelphia medical malpractice lawsuit alleges that 23 infants contracted adenovirus infections following eye examinations in CHOP’s NICU in 2016. The medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit filed for the premature baby’s death alleges that the infant was transferred to the defendant hospital following her birth, for treatment of eye issues associated with her premature birth. Within a few weeks after her transfer to the defendant hospital, the Philadelphia medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit alleges that she developed respiratory problems. Medical testing determined that the infant had adenovirus. Her respiratory problems required implantation of a chest tube for drainage, on four different occasions. The infant died on September 11, 2016, after acquiring a bacterial infection.
In an article appearing in the American Journal of Infection Control on June 1, 2017, the authors reported on CHOP’s NICU andenovirus outbreak and stated, in part: “Observations revealed lack of standard cleaning practices of bedside ophthalmologic equipment and limited glove use. Environmental sampling of 2 hand-held lenses and 2 ophthalmoscopes revealed adenovirus DNA on each device. Sequencing showed that all specimiens were adenovirus serotype … [w]e identified no cases of secondary transmission among neonates … [t]he implicated devices are held or touched by providers’ hands, but do not directly contact patients, highlighting the role of equipment in indirect transmission. Patient to patient transmission can be prevented with strict infection control methods.”
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia describes on its website its neonatal intensive care unit as follows: “The Harriet and Ronald Lassin Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit (N/IICU) at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is a state-of-the-art intensive care unit that provides care for critically ill newborns and infants. The N/IICU is a Level IV unit equipped with the latest technology and advances in neonatal medicine. For more than 50 years, we’ve cared for babies with all types of conditions and congenital malformations. We provide care for neonates who need acute medical care, including multidisciplinary evaluations, complex surgical intervention, ECMO and special low-dose radiologic imaging. We also treat subspecialty patients who require the expertise of newborn intensive care staff and patients who are seeking second opinions. With 95 beds and growing, our unit cares for more than 1,100 babies each year.”
If your baby suffered injury (or worse) that may be due to medical negligence in a hospital or NICU that occurred in Philadelphia or elsewhere in the United States, you should promptly find a Philadelphia medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer where you live in the United States, who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you and your baby in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
Visit our website or call us toll-free at 800-295-3959 to be connected with medical malpractice attorneys in your area who may assist you.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.