LAWSUIT ALLEGES THAT NEGLIGENT POST-OPERATIVE MEDICAL CARE CAUSED DEATH OF 78 YEAR OLD LOCAL WOMAN

Luzerne County No. 2017-CV-10562

Complaint available upon request

The family of Pasqualina Parente, a 78 year old Pittston woman, has filed a lawsuit in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas alleging that Mrs. Parente’s sepsis-related death in January of 2016 was the result of negligent care she received following an uncomplicated, routine colostomy reversal performed by Dr. Imran Saeed at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital (WBGH), which is part of the Commonwealth Health network.

In a Complaint filed on September 12, 2017 by their Kingston, Pa. attorneys, Kevin C. Quinn, Michael Lombardo and Nicole Santo of HKQ Law, P.C., Mrs. Parente’s surviving husband of 57 years, Angelo Parente, and 4 children, Angelina Morgan, Carmella Oliveri, Pietro Parente and Samuel Parente, allege that Mrs. Parente’s death could have been avoided if Dr. Saaed and others involved in her care following a January, 2016 surgical procedure recognized and timely reacted to clear signs that Dr. Saeed’s surgical connection of Mrs. Parente’s bowel was splitting open, or “dehiscing,” and that Mrs. Parente was literally being poisoned to death over a period of several days as the stool contents of her intestines spilled into her abdomen.

According to the Complaint, Dr. Saeed performed a temporary colostomy on Mrs. Parente in October, 2015 at WBGH and that, afterwards, Mrs. Parente was doing fine and was able to return to work at the family business, Parente’s Restaurant and Deli in Pittston, Pa., without complication. The Complaint further alleges, however, that when she returned to WBGH on January 12, 2016 for a scheduled routine colostomy reversal performed by Dr. Saeed, the outcome was far different for Mrs. Parente.

The suit filed by her surviving husband and children alleges that in the days following the January 12, 2016 surgery by Dr. Saeed, Mrs. Parente, while still a patient at WBGH, developed a persistent fever and increased white blood cell count, a tell tale sign of infection. Mrs. Parente was then given antibiotics for a presumed urinary tract infection but multiple urine cultures were negative for any signs of bacterial growth. The Complaint alleges that on January 19, 2016, without the source of her brewing infection being identified and without her white blood cell count being rechecked, Mrs. Parente was prematurely discharged from WBGH and began receiving home health care by her family and Care Givers of America. The suit claims that in the days following her WBGH discharge, Mrs. Parente experienced considerable pain and increased weakness and fatigue and that both family members and her home health nurses smelled stool around her abdominal surgical site and actually saw stool oozing through Mrs. Parente’s surgical wound.

According to the Complaint, on January 20 and 21, 2016 Mrs. Parente’s family placed multiple calls to Dr. Saeed’s office and provided updates on Mrs. Parente’s deteriorating condition but were told each time that they did not need to be concerned, that Mrs. Parente did not need to be brought back to WBGH, and that Dr. Saeed would see Mrs. Parente in his office on January 22, 2016. The Complaint alleges that by the early afternoon of January 21, 2016, Mrs. Parente’s family had seen enough and decided that they could no longer follow the advice they had received from Dr. Saeed’s office and instead took Mrs. Parente to WBGH’s Emergency Room, where the rupture, or “dehiscence,” of the connected bowel performed by Dr. Saeed nine days earlier was discovered. According to the suit, Dr. Saeed attempted to correct his surgical error on the evening of January 21, 2016 but things got even worse from there.

The suit alleges that Mrs. Parente should never have been discharged from WBGH on January 19, 2016 and that because Dr. Saeed’s surgical error was not earlier recognized and corrected, Mrs. Parente suffered septic shock and a host of related injuries, including hypoxic respiratory failure, pulmonary embolisms in both lungs, bleeding into her abdomen and a devastating stroke. On January 30, 2016, after being life-flighted to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Mrs. Parente died from sepsis-related “respiratory failure and stroke.”

In addition to Dr. Saeed, also named as Defendants are Surgical Specialists of Wyoming Valley, P.C., Guy M. Fasciana, M.D., Intermountain Medical Group, Inc., Ewa Lew, M.D, Wilkes Barre Hospital Company and Community Health Systems, all alleged to be acting individually and/or through various entities and agents. The Complaint includes Wrongful Death and Survival claims as well as claims for Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress suffered by Mrs. Parente’s surviving husband and children and seeks compensatory and punitive damages against all Defendants.