Salem Hospital hit with class action lawsuit after patients potentially exposed to hepatitis, HIV
SALEM - Lawyers are filing a class action lawsuit after hundreds of endoscopy patients at Salem Hospital were possibly exposed to dangerous viruses.
The Keches Law Group says the lawsuit names Mass General Brigham, Salem Hospital and 10 hospital employees, accusing them of negligence. Salem Hospital told WBZ-TV it is aware of the lawsuit and is reviewing it.
On Wednesday, the hospital announced improper IV procedures may have exposed as many as 450 patients to Hepatitis B and C, and HIV. The hospital said the problem went on for about two years.
The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of plaintiff Melinda Cashman, of Amesbury. The lawsuit states that Cashman has to undergo tests to figure out if she was infected, "a process which can take months or even years."
Cashman said she received a letter from Salem Hospital on Nov. 3, telling her she may have been exposed to a virus and no ability to immediately follow up.
"My brain went into 800 different places and I literally just could not stop trying to figure it out," said Cashman. "Was I going to end up needing a kidney or a liver transplant? Was I going to get an infection that was going to require me to not be around anymore? And I'm the sole caregiver for my parents."
Salem Hospital said it has determined that the infection risk to patients "is extremely small," and all potentially impacted patients have been notified and offered free screenings. So far there are no reports of anyone contracting an infection.
"A hospital has a duty to be open with their patients, to talk to them about why this happened, how this happened, for how long it's been going on, how long has the hospital known it's been going on," said the plaintiffs' attorney Jeffrey Catalano.
Cashman said she can't even interpret the test results she got and can't get clarification from her doctor, especially after a telehealth appointment was canceled.
"My stress level went from overwhelmed to straight up anger," said Cashman. "Why would you not pick up the phone?"
In response, Mass General Brigham said "Every potentially impacted patient who undergoes testing is informed of those test results through the patient portal. Once the results from all their tests are in, they then receive a phone call from the hospital. For patients who test negative, we leave them a voicemail informing them of the results and encouraging them to follow-up with us if they have additional questions."
WBZ-TV spoke to Michael Walsh, a trial attorney for Altman Nussbaum Shunnarah, about next steps for impacted patients. He said patients should be aware of what they are signing before they take a test.
"Certainly there's going to have to be some sort of consent to get the testing, but what you don't want to do is sign anything to release a hospital or any institution of liability should it happen that you were infected by these practices," Walsh said.