Dirty, deadly secret. Legionnaires' outbreak hidden by hosp for year

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Dirty, deadly secret

 

Legionnaires' outbreak hidden by hosp for year

 

BY ADAM LISBERG

 

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

 

Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center struggled for more than a year to

treat Legionnaires' disease bacteria in its water pipes without

telling patients or most employees to take precautions, state records

obtained by the Daily News show.

 

Only in April - after six patients developed the disease and one had

died - did the hospital give staff a memo saying Legionnaires' was

" recently " found in its water, according to the records.

 

But the memo didn't mention that anyone had gotten sick because

Columbia Presbyterian didn't want to " induce panic, " the records show.

 

The shocking disclosure is contained in more than 160 pages of state

Health Department documents obtained by The News through a Freedom of

Information request.

 

The revelation stunned attorneys for the families of two patients of

the Washington Heights hospital who died of Legionnaires'.

 

The disease contributed to the April 13 death of patient Richard

Montesano, 63, whose family would have brought in bottled water had it

known the risks, said lawyer David Fair.

 

" Not even after he was diagnosed with Legionnaires' did they tell the

Montesano family that there was [the bacteria] in the water, " Fair

said. " They certainly would have put bottled water in his ventilator,

even if they had to bring it in from home. "

 

Robert Fader, an attorney for the husband of a 42-year-old Queens

woman who died of Legionnaires' on March 17, said his client never

knew to be worried about the disease - even when she developed an

infection after being released.

 

" You'd get your loved one back in the hospital right away instead of

thinking that it's probably not a big deal, " said Fader, whose

client's name has not been made public. " If they've got cases of this

stuff going on for more than a year, they should have jumped on it. "

 

Thousands of patients die each year after catching deadly infections

in hospitals. A bill pending in the state Legislature would force

hospitals to report their infection rates - which advocates say would

spur better conditions and save untold lives.

 

On April 5, Robert Kelly, Columbia Presbyterian's chief operating

officer, sent hospital staff a memo saying Legionnaires' was in the water.

 

In a conference call the next day, a city Health Department

epidemiologist said Kelly should have noted that patients had been

sickened " so that the risk is understood to be real, " the documents show.

 

According to notes of the call obtained by The News, another

high-ranking hospital official " acknowledged this, but she felt that

such statements might only induce panic. " And the hospital's infection

control manager said, " All the people who need to know about the cases

have been informed. "

 

Hospital spokeswoman Myrna Manners said yesterday she didn't know

details of the conference call and wouldn't second-guess what the

hospital told its staff and patients.

 

The hospital first learned in March 2004 that a patient had developed

Legionnaires' and that the disease was growing in its pipes, according

to documents.

 

The patient survived, as did another who developed the disease that

August. But the hospital couldn't kill all the bacteria in the pipes,

even after working with city and state health officials as well as

private consultants, records show.

 

The hospital banned showers for some patients and later told everyone

to drink bottled water, but it didn't publicly acknowledge that

patients were sickened until after The News wrote about Montesano's

death April 20.

 

With Paul H.B. Shin

 

When peril is piped in

 

* The bacteria that cause Legionnaires' disease are naturally

occurring, very common and tough to kill.

* They grow in the pipes of large water systems, such as those in

hospitals, hotels and apartment buildings.

* People with compromised immune systems can catch a form of

pneumonia from Legionnaires'-tainted water.

* Experts don't know whether the disease is spread by drinking the

water, breathing its vapor or both.

 

Breaking news update

 

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia said Tuesday that it has

identified seven patients as having Legionnaire's disease since March

2004.

 

Legionnella bacteria was a contributing factor in the death of one of

the patients and the primary cause in the other patient, according to

the medical examiner, said Myrna Manners, a hospital spokeswoman.

 

Five of the seven patients were diagnosed this year: Three in March,

one in April and one in May. The two deaths occurred this year.

 

There have been no new cases since, she said.

 

Manners said Legionnella is a common bacteria found in the water

supply and only poses a risk to patients with a compromised immune

system. The two patients who died had been " extremely ill, " she said.

 

According to a report in the Daily News on Tuesday, the hospital

worked to root out the Legionnaire's bacteria from its water pipes for

over a year before warning patients or staff in April.

 

The newspaper, citing 160 pages of documents it obtained through a

Freedom of Information request, said an April 5 memo warned staff that

the bacteria had " recently " been found in the hospital's pipes but did

not say that patients had been sickened by the disease.

 

A city Health Department epidemiologist told the hospital's chief

operating officer the following day that the staff should have been

informed about the illnesses " so that the risk is understood to be

real, " according to notes of the conference call cited by the News.

 

The city Health Department did not immediately return a call for comment.

 

Manners said that after the bacteria was detected last year,

physicians working with immune-deficient patients were notified. She

said " a broader communication " was sent to all staff April 5 after the

five patients were identifed.

 

Manners said Tuesday that the hospital continuously monitors its water

for traces of the bacteria, per city and state health department

guidelines, and regularly briefs department heads on the situation.

 

" We have been following guidelines set out by the state Department of

Health and city Department of Health on how to treat and contain the

Legionnaire's bacteria, " Manners said.

 

" In terms of the situation currently, we have taken a number of steps,

including hypercholorination of our water ... and we're continuing to

monitor the situation very closely. "

 

She said the hospital was continuing to provide bottled water to

patients and staff, and has brought in additional consultants to

advise on how best to eradicate the bacteria.

 

Originally published on June 21, 2005

 

 

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