Mark Bennett was a vibrant and independent 88 year-old World War II combat vet when he entered the hospital in February 2004 with a virus. Hospital personnel passed to him at least six different bacteria including fecal bacteria found in his sputum, multi-drug resistant strains throughout his body and a "flesh eating" bacteria that took his leg. His kidneys were destroyed, his trachea collapsed, his heart was damaged and his blood was poisoned. He went undiagnosed for days, was left untreated and received wrong medications. Despite daily visits to the hospital, his family was never informed of his conditions. After four months and having been moved through five different hospitals, Mark Bennett died.

Gregory - Ellicot City, MD: In November 2003, Gregory contracted a life threatening staph infection following spinal surgery. Gregory needed the surgery because he was experiencing significant back pain from spinal stenosis, a constriction of the spinal canal in his lower(lumbar) vertebrae. Before his surgery, Gregory expected to spend 2-3 days in the hospital recovering from the procedure. But less than 24 hours after the surgery, he developed a high fever that his doctors determined was infection-related. A day later, he underwent a second operation to flush the surgical wound in an attempt to clean out a
potential source of the infection. But the infection persisted and Gregory experienced two excruciating weeks at the hospital during which his temperature climbed to 104 degrees for several days. Gregory was given Vancomycin, which is used to treat antibiotic-resistant infections, for twelve days at the hospital and another five weeks at home after he was discharged. Unfortunately, the drug proved very harsh on his system and he began to experience kidney failure. While his infection eventually cleared up and his kidneys improved, Gregory believes he still is recovering from the effects of this nearly fatal hospital acquired infection.

Victoria – Denver, CO: One week after Victoria delivered her second child through a C-section birth in 2000, she noticed a spot on her incision and soon developed a fever. Victoria consulted with her hospital’s on-call doctor, who said she probably had developed an infection from the surgery and prescribed an antibiotic, but no follow-up doctor’s visit. Unfortunately, the infection worsened and her fever climbed. After falling down the stairs at home as a result of her weakened state, she knew she needed immediate medical attention. She was diagnosed with a severe systemic staph infection and medical staff removed 2 ½ liters of infectious material from her stomach. Victoria was told that she was close to death and was put on heavy antibiotics to treat the staph infection. In the months that followed, she remained very sick because her immune system was compromised and she had difficulty walking because the infection had settled in her legs. One year after her child’s birth, she required surgery to reconstruct the wall of her abdomen that was damaged as a result of her infection. Victoria has slowly found relief from her illness after working with some alternative health providers. But over four years after she first developed the infection, her stamina is still not restored and the experience has taken a significant emotional toll.

Barbara – S. Burlington, VT: After taking a bad fall, Barbara required spinal surgery to repair two herniated discs and some dislocated vertebrae. Forest spent seven days in the hospital following surgery before being discharged to continue her recovery at home. Four days later, she started running a fever and noticed that pus was leaking from her surgical incision site. She returned to a local hospital and was told that she had developed a methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection. MRSA is resistant to certain antibiotics and can be difficult to treat. Forest was transported by ambulance back to the original hospital where her back surgery had taken place, about 75 miles from her home. She underwent a second surgery to clean and debride the infected tissue and flood it with antibiotics. Forest was told that she had developed the infection in the operating room during her initial surgery. After another week’s hospitalization, she was discharged and continued her recovery at home for another month under the care of family members and home health care attendants before she could take care of herself. Two years later, she is still dealing with back pain and weakness, due to the infection and a failed fusion of two vertebrae, also due to the infection. Some of the metal hardware used in her surgery is now broken because of the failed fusion. Since MRSA likes metal, there is concern that it could be dormant in Barbara’s back so she must take 100mg of minocycline twice a day as a preventative. Her doctors have advised her to continue the antibiotic treatments for the rest of her life.

Larry, Beaverton, OR: Following a motorcycle accident, Larry underwent surgery to repair crushed bone in his upper arm. The surgery went well, but about four days later his shoulder became inflamed and very sore. Erickson called his doctor to report his symptoms and was reassured that his condition was normal following such surgery. But by the next day, his shoulder pain had worsened and he decided to visit his doctor in-person. Again, he was told that he had nothing to worry about and was sent home. A day or two later he went to the emergency room at his hospital with a high fever and chills. The emergency room doctor realized that Erickson had a serious infection and ordered immediate surgery to clean out the wound. Tests of the infectious material removed from the surgical site revealed that six different kinds of bacteria were present. Erickson was given antibiotics by IV and kept at the hospital for ten days. After he was discharged, he continued the IV antibiotic treatments at home for the next six months along with two other antibiotics in pill form. Unfortunately, Erickson was laid off from work because of his lengthy recovery. He continued taking Cipro for another year after the IV treatments ended.

Thomas, Hawaiian Gardens, CA: After years of dealing with severe back pain caused by an injury sustained in an auto accident, Thomas underwent surgery in 2002 to repair two disks in his back. The surgery went smoothly and he was discharged from the hospital less than one week later. But after a few days he was rushed to the emergency room in critical condition. It turned out that Thomas had developed MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus), an infection he caught from one of the surgical tools used during his back surgery. After undergoing another surgery to remove infected bone material and to clear out the infection, Thomas was put on Vancomycin and Gentamicin, two very strong antibiotics. Following a month of treatments, he began to experience serious dizziness, a common and debilitating side effect of taking Gentamacin. Tests revealed that the connection between his inner ear and brain had been severed as a result, making the damage to his balance permanent. Thomas has been unable to return to work and now every time he scratches or cuts himself he runs the risk of developing the infection again.

Raquel, Houston, TX: Raquel’s father had bypass surgery at Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas in 2003. Shortly after leaving the hospital her father was readmitted because he didn’t feel well and they could not determine what was wrong. Another doctor who did not perform the bypass surgery did a catheterization on his left hand to see if he could determine the problem with the bypass. The left hand got infected and her father began running a fever. Still unable to determine what was wrong with his heart, they performed a second catheterization on his left side. He began to have severe abdominal pains after the second catheterization. His right arm looked infected. The doctor took a sample and determined it was a staph infection. Raquel’s father stayed in the hospital for two more weeks and he was discharged during the third week. He continued to experience severe abdominal pain and the pain medication he was taking began to affect his breathing. His doctors performed an MRI that revealed he had an infection in his lumbar area, which was causing the stomach pain and he was readmitted to the hospital. At the request of the patient, the doctors agreed to let him go home and pay for a home health care worker to administer the antibiotics. His condition got worse and he was taken back to the hospital. He was there for three more weeks fighting the infection and then died. His death certificate said he died from a chronic pulmonary condition with no mention of the staph infection that led to the abdominal pain and subsequent medication that ultimately affected his breathing. He first entered Methodist Hospital in August, 2003 and died a November 3.

Ellen, Trumansburg, NY: Ellen, age 51, had enjoyed excellent health her entire life until she needed surgical repair of an ACL (knee ligament) in July, 1995. Within two weeks of her knee surgery, infection had set in which was diagnosed as MRSA. After being treated with antibiotics and whirlpool therapy, she was hospitalized again in September 1995 and required further surgery to remove some of the hardware from the infection site. In the fall of 1997, she had a recurrence of the infection which required more surgery, followed by three months of isolation at home. The surgeon who reviewed her previous hospital records found evidence of infection from her 1995 follow up surgery. Since her recovery, her health has been good but her doctor has told her the infection could come back.