Family sues over son’s legionnaire’s disease death at UCSF Medical Center; UC Regents deny allegations

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The University of California Regents are denying allegations that the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center failed to take precautions against a deadly bacteria and that a Lake County child died of legionnaire’s disease as a result.

On Nov. 22, the University of California Regents formally responded to the lawsuit filed in late October by Hidden Valley Lake residents Rodd and Kellie Joseph, denying any wrongdoing on the part of the UCSF Medical Center.

The couple’s 7-and-a-half-month-old son, Ryland, died of legionnaire’s disease, a severe form of pneumonia, at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital on May 16, more than two weeks after he had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to cure a rare disease, Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome.

After a doctor informed the Josephs that their son’s engraftment surgery had been successful, the child abruptly took a turn for the worse, going into organ failure and dying days later.

The Josephs allege in their wrongful death suit that the hospital knew that the bacteria causing legionnaire’s disease was in its plumbing system, and that the same diseases had killed two other boys who had been treated at the hospital in 1992 and 1998.

The hospital’s response to the suit states that it “exercised reasonable diligence at all times,” suggests that the child’s death was the result of the negligence of others, and that the hospital is immune because the child’s death resulted from “the exercise of discretion vested in its employees.”

The suit response states that the child’s death was “the natural course” of his condition or “the natural or expected” result of reasonable treatment rendered for his disease, and so the Josephs’ claims are barred by California Civil Code.

The regents also claim immunity under Business and Professions Code sections 364 and 365, which require 90 days’ notice before a legal action is taken, and the Fair Responsibility Act of 1986, which helps protect local governments in tort claims.

In a statement released to Lake County News, Josh Adler, MD, chief medical officer of UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital, said the hospital learned on July 12 that the cause of Ryland’s death was a form of pneumonia caused by legionella bacteria.

“We have expressed our sincerest condolences to this baby’s family. They have experienced a terrible loss,” Adler said.

“Patient safety is at the heart of what we do, and we take infections like this extremely seriously,” Adler continued. “In the ensuing months, our goal has been to understand what caused the illness in this child. Communication with the family has been a priority, and we updated them weekly throughout the investigations.”

However, the Josephs said hospital officials stopped talking to them in August, and their attempts to get answers from the agencies involved in the investigation also met with resistance and dead ends.

The Josephs have hired Baltimore-based attorney Steven Heisler, who specializes in legionnaire’s litigation, who in turn brought on attorney Kevin Elder of the Bay Area firm Penney and Associates.

“I think our bottom line is, we don’t want this to happen to anyone else’s child,” said Heisler.

Elder emphasized that the suit does not claim medical malpractice, with the family believing that the doctors who treated their son did a great job.

“I am just hoping we get answers,” said Kellie Joseph. “We didn’t do anything wrong, that’s what we know.”

“Our biggest concern now is making the public aware that there is a deadly bacteria that lurks inside of this hospital,” said Heisler.

Added Elder, “Nobody should have to go through this.”

Thanks to ELIZABETH LARSON and the Lake County News