The outbreak below happened in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our law firm helps families who loved one’s die from Legionnaires’ disease, a form of pneumonia caused by breathing in water mist that contains Legionella bacteria. In cases where the contaminated water came from a hospital building, the family may have a wrongful death lawsuit against the hospital and others, including the company responsible for maintaining the cooling tower. You can contact our Legionnaires’ disease lawyers for a free consultation using the form below.
February 2014
Two patients at the University of Indiana (UI) Hospital in Indianapolis, IN, died after being diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, a severe form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria. The only way to contract the illness is to breathe in water mist contaminated with Legionella.
After the second patient was diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, the hospital tested its water for the presence of Legionella bacteria. Tests came back positive.
The hospital told reporters that it regularly monitors and treats its water supply to kill Legionella.
“When Legionella is present in a hospital’s water system, it often means that water treatment processes were either not adequate or not done correctly,” said Fred Pritzker, an attorney who represents Legionnaires’ disease victims nationwide. Fred recently won $3 million for a family whose wife and mother died from Legionnaires’ disease.
This being said, it is still not known whether both cases of Legionnaires’ disease were caused by IU hospital water.
IU Health has taken additional steps to eradicate Legionella bacteria from its water system. New lab tests have have come back negative.
It is relatively rare for Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks to be caused by hospital water, but when they are, the mortality rate is generally high. This is because patients who contract the disease are already sick. Both of the patients who died at University Hospital had compromised immune systems, so their bodies had a harder time fighting the Legionella infection (legionellosis).
Attorneys Fred Pritzker and Eric Hageman are our lead lawyers for our Legionnaires’ disease personal injury and wrongful death cases. You can call them for a free consultation and ask them about the science behind winning these cases. Call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form (click here now).