Preventable Infection in Wisconsin Hospital Leads to Five Illnesses and One Death

When a nurse at University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, decided to replace the highly addictive opiate in patient’s syringes with water contaminated with Serratia marcescens, he or she may not have realized that lives were at risk in the quest for narcotics. Serratia marcescens is a common hospital-acquired infection that flourishes in damp growing conditions such as bathroom grout, or toilet water. However, Serratia marcescens rarely manifests in clusters; so when five patients in five different wards of the hospital all developed the infection within one month, authorities realized the outbreak was not naturally occurring.

Unfortunately, the incidence of medical professionals diverting or misusing narcotic medications is not new; as reported by USA today, estimates place the incidence of dependency among hospital employees at over 100,000. That number is likely to have grown, as the last large scale study was conducted in 2007, with only smaller-scale findings more recently. While some medical professionals channel narcotics for their own use, others sell the medications to dealers. Because of the prevalence of these situations, hospitals must institute measures to prevent such incidents through tamper-evident packaging, security cameras, and other precautions.

In the Wisconsin case, the nurse diverted whole doses of opiates meant to provide immediate pain relief to patients in post-anesthesia care.  Even siphoning off a small amount of each dose can have devastating effects on chronic pain patients. When the nurse in Madison replaced the intended medication with dirty water contaminated with Serratia marcescens, the risks were compounded. After surgery, patients are already predisposed to infections. By administering what was effectively an injection of infectious material directly to each patient, the nurse in question could have been charged with attempted manslaughter, and manslaughter in the case of the patient who did pass away as a result.

What makes this case different

Death from Serratia marcescens is not uncommon, as the bacteria can lead to infection of the urinary tract, respiratory tract, wounds, the eye, the skeletal system, and even the heart itself, as well as pneumonia and meningitis. Exacerbating the ailment is the fact that Serratia marcescens can be resistant to a wide array of antibiotics.  A Serratia marcescens infection that goes untreated, or that cannot be controlled by antibiotics, can lead to septicemia, septic shock, and death.

An occurrence of one nurse diverting opiates from patients for personal misuse is not inherently newsworthy. In this case though, the ability of the authorities to trace the crime back to the culprit by studying the epidemiology of an infectious outbreak within a hospital is unusual. Additionally, had the nurse used sterile saline solution or any other non-toxic substance, the crime may never have been revealed, let alone solved.

At McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC, our South Carolina medical malpractice attorneys are accomplished in handling challenging consumer protection cases from around the country. We defend clients’ right to compensation after receiving substandard care in hospitals.  If you have become ill after a medical procedure or hospitalization and are seeking legal assistance, call 803-327-7800 or fill out our contact form.