Jury Hits KU Hospital, Device Maker in Infection Death

0:00A Wyandotte County jury just hit the University of Kansas Hospital and Lee Vanova with a $7,650,000 verdict for the wife and son of Steven Nolte, a 71-year-old Navy vet and retired electrician from Raytown. Nolte got a fatal M Camera infection from a contaminated heater cooler device during his aortic valve surgery on March 6, 2019, and passed away on July 8, 2020. They pinned 88% fault on the hospital authority and 12% on the device maker. The family sued in 2021 over wrongful death and negligence, but the hospital settled confidentially right before the 12-day trial, kicked off. After three and a half hours of deliberation, the jury broke it down with $3 million for non-conomic personal injury loss, plus chunks for. Economic and future losses on the death claim. This hits hard for families dealing with sneaky infections that can take years to show up, linked to aerosol from these temp-regulating machines used, in open heart ops.

1:0225 patients at KU Med caught it after the hospital slacked on disinfection starting October 16, 2018, ditching bleach and, peroxide for just daily draining, sparking an outbreak including Nolte's case. Lawyers clashed hard with the family's side blaming the hospital's shortcuts and live a Nova's design flaws from their German plant while the company. Pointed fingers solely at KU Med's bacterial experiment that ignored cleaning rules. No infections happened when protocols were followed from 2017 to 2018. Dozens more suits are piling up against these players, pushing hospitals and Medtech firms to lock down those maintenance steps tight, ensuring no. More lives get sidelined by hidden risks in the OR. Local news powered by AI. This is Kansas News Today.