DANVILLE, Pa. — After eight months of negotiations, two families reached a settlement with Geisinger. This comes after they had infants die and one twin was permanently brain-damaged in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.
Geisinger announced in October that eight newborns who were fed donor breast milk at the NICU at Geisinger Medical Center were infected with a bacteria. Three of those infants died.
An inspection found the bacteria was caused by improper cleaning of the machine used to prepare and store the breast milk, and that Geisinger failed to check the milk for bacterial contamination. Geisinger says it has since changed the process for handling donor breast milk and sanitization procedures.
Attorney Matt Casey represented the two families involved in the lawsuit, including Abel Cepeda, who died on September 30. The other family has a set of twins. One of the babies died and the other has permanent brain injuries.
"It is a good day for these families but their lives have been changed forever, no matter what happens with the lawsuit," Casey said. "They have a long road ahead of them and this child has a long road ahead of him. He needs an enormous amount of medical care which, of course, is extremely costly."
The amount of the settlement has not been released, but part of the settlement includes Geisinger accepting full responsibility.
Geisinger's president and CEO released this statement to the families represented by attorney Matt Casey:
"Geisinger recognizes Mr. Casey’s advocacy on behalf of these families and we apologize to each of the families involved. The loss of a child is tragic, and this settlement can never replace these young children, however we believe we have taken the steps necessary to prevent future infections and spare other families from this loss."