Roy family sues Seattle hospital for mold found on infant’s heart following surgery
A Roy family has sued Seattle Children’s Hospital, alleging their infant son’s heart was found covered in Aspergillus mold following surgery at the facility last year.
The child’s mother, 24-year-old Hayley Seymour, said the baby remains hospitalized. He’s 7 months old.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in King County Superior Court, notes the hospital’s history with Aspergillus that was reported last year.
“According to its Chief Executive Officer, 14 pediatric patients have been infected with Aspergillus mold as a result of surgical procedures at Children’s since 2001,” the family’s complaint says. “Also according to the SCH CEO, seven of those 14 children died as a result of the fungal infections.”
Seattle Children’s spokesperson Anna Altavas said via email Tuesday: “We are working diligently to resolve these issues, including the claims that have been brought against Seattle Children’s related to past surgical site infections. We take our reporting obligations very seriously, and we accurately and timely report confirmed Aspergillus surgical site infections to Public Health – Seattle & King County as required by law. We are incredibly sorry for the impact this situation has had on our patients and families.”
The hospital has been updating its website with information about new filtration systems and other steps it’s taken.
The Seymour family’s lawsuit gives this account of their experience:
The baby, identified in the complaint by the initials W.S., had heart surgery at Children’s Oct. 1.
“No one at SCH at any time informed W.S. or his parents of SCH’s long-standing history with Aspergillus infections originating in the operating rooms,” the lawsuit says. “Based upon SCH’s long struggle with Aspergillus in its operating rooms, SCH knew or should have known that it placed W.S. at risk for exposure to the mold during his heart surgery.”
About a month later the infant had trouble breathing and his skin was gray. His parents took him to Madigan Army Medical Center, and in November he was transferred to back to Children’s, where he remains.
“... doctors discovered that his heart was covered in black mold that was living off his heart muscle,” the lawsuit says.
Anti-fungal drugs have “severely affected,” the baby’s organs, and he “must remain in the critical care unit, where he is intubated and undergoes intravenous administration of numerous powerful narcotics,” the lawsuit says. “Potential side effects of these drugs include, but are not limited to, liver damage, kidney damage, nerve damage, and bone disease.”
The family’s attorney, Sim Osborn, argues that the hospital had a duty to tell the family about the risk of Aspergillus.
“The doctors did everything right,” Osborn said. “The facility was below par. It was below the standard of care for a normal operating suite.”
Seymour said restrictions at the hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic mean that only one parent can visit the baby at a time, and that their toddler can’t visit his brother. They’re able to hold W.S. every few days.
“I can’t pick up my child without help,” Seymour said. “... It’s been hard just not being able to take care of him like a normal mom should be able to.”
The breathing tube, she said, means that: “We can see him cry, we can see him laugh, but we can’t hear it.”
Making things harder, the family’s Roy home was recently broken into while they’ve been staying near the Seattle hospital.
“I’ve been trying to stay as strong as I can,” Seymour said.
