Pair Lose Malpractice Suit Against St. Luke’s: Jury Finds Hospital Wasn’t Negligent in Cases of Unusual Infections.

By Debbie Garlicki, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa.

Nov. 14–Two men who got unusual infections in 2003 after open-heart surgery on consecutive days at St. Luke’s Hospital have lost their medical malpractice case against the Fountain Hill health care provider.

A Lehigh County jury deliberated nine hours over two days before returning a Nov. 6 verdict that the hospital wasn’t negligent in the care of Kevin C. Forrest, 52, of Stroudsburg and Michael Trigiani, 65, of Roseto.

Attorney Aaron J. Freiwald of Philadelphia, who represented the two men, sued the hospital in 2004, alleging that the facility didn’t maintain sterile fields during the surgery, causing the two patients to get sternal wound infections that required additional treatment and surgery.

The jury heard part of the case outside the courthouse in Allentown. The trial, held before county Judge Lawrence J. Brenner, was moved to the county Government Center’s public hearing room because of courthouse renovations.

Freiwald sought a multimillion-dollar award for the two men, who claimed that they continue to have pain and that their lives and daily activities have been affected. Forrest, a commercial airline pilot for Continental Airlines, said he can no longer fly a plane.

Documents filed by St. Luke’s said Freiwald wanted $13 million to settle the case — $9 million for Forrest and $4 million for Trigiani, a heavy-machinery operator.

Forrest had coronary artery bypass surgery on Oct. 27, 2003, and Trigiani, on Oct. 28, 2003. Both developed serious infections and needed surgery to remove dead or dying tissue and to close gaps in their chests. The men were on antibiotics and also endured prolonged hospitalizations, extensive physical therapy and complicated rehabilitation, Freiwald said.

The hospital’s infection control coordinator started an investigation, and cultures were sent to a state laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The hospital argued that testing showed the bacteria were not identical.

Freiwald alleged that the infections were not mere coincidence and are highly unusual in sternal wound sites. He contended that the enterobacter aerogenes bacteria aren’t found on the skin and are typically found in feces and the intestinal tract.

He claimed that the bacteria came from the operating room staff and their hands or contaminated equipment that hadn’t been properly sterilized.

“Mistakes happen, but not without consequences and responsibilities,” Freiwald said.

The patients were in different operating rooms and had different surgeons. They had the same scrub nurse and circulating nurse.

Howard S. Stevens, who represented the hospital after his father, veteran lawyer Richard F. Stevens, died in September, contended that the infections could have come from the patients’ skin. He also maintained that the health care professionals involved in both surgeries washed their hands and took proper precautions to prevent the spread of bacteria.

He also contended that if the bacteria had come from inadequate hand-washing after using the rest-room and a common source, the men would not have had two different kinds of infections, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

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