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PITTSBURGH (AP) — The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has agreed to pay $1.35 million in a settlement to the family of a woman who died during a mold outbreak at the hospital, according to court records.
The $850,000 and $500,000 payouts will go to the family of Tracy Fischer, 47, who died in October 2014 after contracting a fungal infection at UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported (http://bit.ly/1TCP4lk ).
Fischer, of Erie, was treated in the same room of the hospital's cardiothoracic intensive care unit, where two other heart transplant patients with fungal infections were treated before dying. Che DuVall, 70, of Perryopolis, died in February, and an unnamed patient died in June 2015. A fourth patient died in September at UPMC Montefiore.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said a specially ventilated room in the hospital's cardiothoracic intensive care unit might have been the source of the mold. UPMC suspended its transplant program for six days after finding mold at Presbyterian and another hospital.
The family's attorney, James Dattilo, will receive 35 percent of the settlement, according to court documents. He declined to comment Thursday.
UPMC officials didn't immediately respond when the settlement was first reported last week.
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Information from: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, http://pghtrib.com
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