Washington state hospital addresses mould infections, deaths

SEATTLE – Executives at a Washington state children’s hospital have found additional patient deaths from a mould infection after taking a closer look at their records.

KING-TV reported Tuesday that Seattle Children’s CEO Jeff Sperring announced Monday that they looked at their history of Aspergillus infections and found that between 2001 and 2019, there were 14 infected patients, six of whom have died.

The Patnode family from Yakima says they sued the hospital in 2005 saying their 12-year-old daughter was exposed to mould while she was having brain tumour surgery.

Attorney John Layman says the family and hospital eventually settled the lawsuit.

A hospital spokesperson was not immediately available to comment.

Hospital officials say most of the operating rooms are expected to be closed until January as officials upgrade its air-filtration system.

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Information from: KING-TV, http://www.king5.com/