Lawsuit blames linens at third UPMC hospital for mold death
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A lawsuit blames linens for causing the mold-related death of a leukemia patient at a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center hospital.
Thursday’s lawsuit claims that Katherine Landman’s October 2015 death is the seventh at a UPMC hospital allegedly caused by linens provided by Paris Cleaners, of DuBois, and the first filed in a death at UPMC Shadyside hospital. The other allegedly mold-related deaths occurred at UPMC Presbyterian and Montefiore hospitals.
UPMC issued a statement saying its hospitals “are safe, and our ongoing monitoring and testing show no evidence concerning mold infections.” Paris also issued a statement saying federal and state investigators have “both said the facts don’t support the conclusion that these infections resulted from exposure to linens.”
The lawsuit by the New Castle woman’s family contends she contracted a deadly mold infection after a bone-marrow transplant.