Patient Sues UPMC Presbyterian Hospital Over Mold Outbreak

PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) -- A lung transplant patient has sued UPMC Presbyterian Hospital after contracting a fungal infection in his lungs during a mold outbreak that's been linked to the deaths of three other transplant patients.

Che DuVall, 70, contracted a fungal infection in his lungs, after undergoing a transplant back in August.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Allegheny County Court.

The couple's attorneys contend that UPMC recklessly housed DuVall in a room that made him more susceptible to a mold infection.

UPMC declined comment on the suit.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said four organ transplant patients who developed mold infections at UPMC likely got it from time spent in a "negative pressure" room normally reserved for those who already had infections. Three of those four transplant patients later died.

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UPMC has said it hasn't been conclusively determined that the mold led to those deaths.

The mold incident caused UPMC to suspend its transplant program for six days back in September.

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