Ya know, I am very against frivilous lawsuits, and really lawsuits of any kind other than towards someone who has intentionally hurt you - but I am so glad to see that an attorney somewhere has been brave enough to take an MRSA case on. Maybe it is because it is against a prison rather than a big hospital, but whatever the reason, maybe this will make people take some action to prevent MRSA. I hate that it has to come to this, but…here we go!
County officials sued over inmate staph deaths - PittsburghLIVE.com
The families of two women who died from drug-resistant staph infections while incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail sued the warden and other county officials on Tuesday for failing to provide medical care.
“They were told, ‘Quit complaining or we’re going to stick you in isolation,’” attorney William Goodrich said of the response the women got from jail officials when they asked for medical treatment.
The parents of Amy Sartori, 31, of Mt. Washington, and the sister of Valeriya Whetsell, 50, of Homewood, are seeking unspecified damages from Warden Ramon Rustin, county Chief Executive Dan Onorato, the county health department, Allegheny Correctional Health Services and two unnamed guards.
The women died within hours of each other March 21 from a lung infection caused by methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus — known as MRSA — an increasingly common organism often found in closed environments such as hospitals and prisons.
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3 responses so far ↓
Kelly Sartori // Jul 26, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I am the sister of Amy Sartori and I am apalled by this. I still can’t really face what happened to my sister. Even though people may be in jail, they are still people and deserve medical care. It is blatantly clear that no one wanted to give the necessary care to my sister or Mrs. Whetsell. I hope that at the very least to come out of this is the knowledge of this negligence that continues throughout the system, and the world for that matter. I hope a difference can be made here. There is no reason that any one should be treated with such disregard. If everyone treated each other with respect maybe these terrible things wouldn’t happen, and families broken.
Melissa Sartori // Sep 19, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Iam the sister of Amy Sartori, and she was like my mother in allot of ways.She was treated worse than a dog,both of the women were for that matter. I hope justice will be done in this case, but for my heart-it will never be enough!! I love you, Am!!!!
t.anonymous // Sep 25, 2008 at 7:27 pm
To the Sartori sisters, you dont know me but I recently gave testimony on behalf of your sister and the other family who lost their loved one. I was a nurse at the jail and left the year before your sisters death. I had warned the admin. there that someone was going to die. I was personally responsible for tracking ,quantifying,and helping to identify a major outbreak of mrsa in 2003. I just want you to know you are not alone,ethically I was bound to come forward. The people named in the lawsuit have no ethics and are totally clueless. they continue to lie and cover-up. They are the worst example and overshadow the fact we had some dedicated ,talented nurses who really cared about their patients at the jail. God Bless and know forces from the darkness are coming to fight for the families of those who died. Truth is never frightened or intimidated.
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