A law firm in Pittsburgh is looking into two more transplant patients from Pittsburgh-based UPMC to see if their deaths were somehow linked to the hospital's mold problem and the four other patients who contracted fungal infections at UPMC, according to a TribLive report.
The following are five things to know about the story:
1. Jerry Meyers and Brendan Lupetin of Meyers Evens & Associates already represent one of the four patients linked to the mold problem at UPMC, a man who underwent a lung transplant and suffered a fungal infection. He is still hospitalized.
2. The family of another UPMC patient, Mary Frances Reiff, contacted Mr. Meyers sand Mr. Lupetin to look into her death. She underwent a kidney transplant in UPMC Montefiore, where she contracted a fungal infection in her lung and later died.
3. In addition to Ms. Reiff's case, the lawyers are also investigating the death of John Petrolino, who got a lung transplant at UPMC Presbyterian and developed a fungal lung infection as well. He responded well to antifungal medication, but later died in his home of respiratory failure.
4. UPMC told TribLive it could not discuss particular cases because of patient privacy laws, according to TribLive, but a spokeswoman told the paper that "Fungal infections do occur and are a particular risk to the very sickest patients with the weakest immune systems at any hospital."
5. The CDC conducted an on-site investigation into the mold and fungal infections at UPMC Presbyterian and Montefiore and that report is still being finalized.