A patient filed a lawsuit April 17 against Charleston, S.C.-based Roper Hospital after developing a waterborne bacterial infection following breast reconstruction surgery at the facility, reports The Post and Courier.
The patient, Deane Pokodner, is one of the 27 women who became infected with non-tuberculosis mycobacteria after receiving surgery at the hospital. Ms. Pokodner, like a majority of the affected patients, was diagnosed with breast cancer, underwent a double mastectomy and then had breast reconstruction surgery. Twenty three women, including Ms. Pokodner, developed the infection after the breast reconstruction surgery. The affected patients had to undergo additional surgery to drain fluid from their breasts and spent months on various antibiotic treatments.
In the lawsuit, Ms. Pokodner claims the hospital didn't immediately notify her that other patients acquired the same infection.
"Although the CDC decided she was likely to have contracted the infection at Roper Main, she was never informed of this by Roper or any treating physicians," the complaint reads, according to The Post and Courier.
Further, the lawsuit argues Roper Hospital continued to shell out bonuses to physicians and mangers, instead of making the necessary capital investments and improvements to keep patients safe.
Hospital leaders confirmed April 13 that the hospital's tap water tested positive for non-tuberculosis mycobacteria. It is unclear how the patients were infected or exposed to the tap water because the surgeons used sterile water. It is also unclear why breast reconstruction patients were adversely affected.
The hospital's parent organization, Charleston-based Roper St. Francis, made several changes following reports of the infections and an investigation by the CDC and South Carolina Health Department. Since then, the health system implemented water purifiers at its Charleston campus and moved all breast reconstruction surgeries to Mount Pleasant (S.C.) Hospital.