Update - November 14, 2011
By Order of the Honourable Justice Strathy, dated November 14, 2011, the Pseudomonas Class Action was certified permitting the representative plaintiffs, Ronald and Sandra Sherman, to continue the action as a class proceeding. The Court has not determined the merits of the action. As a result, your rights may be affected by the recent certification order.
The law firm of Rochon Genova LLP ("Class Counsel") represents plaintiffs in the above-noted action against University Health Network ("UHN"). The Class consists of 36 individuals known to Class Counsel and UHN who were infected or colonized by the Outbreak Strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ("Pseudomonas") while an inpatient in the Medical/Surgical Intensive Care Unit, solid organ transplant stepdown unit and the solid organ transplant ward of the Toronto General Hospital ("TGH") between December 1, 2004 and March 31, 2006 (the "Class or Class Member").
Class Counsel will be sending notice to the 36 Class Members notifying them that the Pseudomonas Class Action has been certified and advising them of their right to opt-out of the action. If you believe you are one of the Class Members, please contact Class Counsel for more information:
ROCHON GENOVA LLP
Barristers Avocats
121 Richmond St. W, Suite 900
Toronto, Ontario M5H 2K1
Telephone: (416) 363-1867
Toll Free: 1-866-881-2292
Facsimile: (416) 363-0263
tmohan@rochongenova.com
TORONTO, January 6, 2009 - A class action claim was issued with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on December 24, 2008, on behalf of patients who were infected by the
Pseudomonas aeruginosa ("Pseudomonas") outbreak while at Toronto General Hospital between December 1, 2004 and March 31, 2006 (the "
Pseudomonas Outbreak").
Pseudomonas is described as multidrug-resistant bacteria which causes illness and death in immunocompromised patients. Of 36 patients infected during the Pseudomonas Outbreak, 17 died.
The claim was issued following the recent release of a study conducted by Dr. Susy Hota
et al. entitled "
Outbreak of Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Colonization and Infection Secondary to Imperfect Intensive Care Unit Room Design", published in the January 2009 edition of the Journal of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology (the "Hota Study"), which identifies the source of the
Pseudomonas Outbreak. The claim seeks compensation for patients of Toronto General Hospital infected with Pseudomonas, as well as their families. The defendants named in the lawsuit are Toronto General Hospital and University Health Network.
The claim alleges that Toronto General Hospital and University Health Network were negligent in their testing methods relating to infection control protocols. In particular, the defendants failed to recognize that sinks and sink drains were the source of
Pseudomonas in the Medical/Surgery Intensive Care Unit.
"While the release of the Hota Study exposing the cause of the Pseudomonas Outbreak at Toronto General Hospital is certainly an important first step for victims, it marks only the beginning of a longer process", said Joel P. Rochon, a partner at
Rochon Genova LLP. "This class action provides an avenue for patients and their families to seek fair damages for this entirely avoidable tragedy."
The proposed representative plaintiff, Ronald Sherman, was admitted to emergency at Toronto General Hospital in November 2005 with pneumonia. "I was hospitalized for 4 months and nearly died from the
Pseudomonas infection while in intensive care," he said. "Toronto General Hospital should be held accountable to the affected patients and their families who were unnecessarily burdened with this terrible infection."
The allegations raised in the claim have not yet been proven in court.
For further information please contact Joel Rochon of
Rochon Genova LLP at (416) 363-1867.