A 70-year-old man who contracted a fungal infection after he underwent a double lung transplant at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh is suing the hospital for negligence, claiming the infection was tied to a mold outbreak at the facility, according to a Tribune-Review report.
The patient, Che DuVall, underwent the procedure at UPMC Presbyterian Aug. 1 and was diagnosed with a fungal infection Sept. 3, just days before the hospital closed its cardiothoracic intensive care unit, the Tribune-Review reports.
Mr. DuVall and his wife have since filed a lawsuit in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Mr. DuVall's lawyers argue hospital employees "carelessly and recklessly housed him in a room in the hospital's cardiothoracic intensive care unit that made him more susceptible to a mold infection," according to the report. They claim Mr. DuVall's room had a negative pressure air flow system that endangered his health because he was immunosuppressed.
Federal investigators trying to identify the source of mold have yet to produce any leads, according to a statement from the CDC in late December.
To read Mr. DuVall's full lawsuit, click here.
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