Matt Casey Hired By Family Of Baby Who Died Of Bacterial Infection At Geisinger

The parents of one of the babies who died as a result of a pseudomonas bacteria outbreak at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville have hired Philadelphia attorney Matt Casey to investigate and prosecute the wrongful death.

Casey is representing Zuleyka Rodriguez and Luis David Cepeda of Hazle Township, Pa., the parents of Abel David Cepeda, who was born at Geisinger on September 24 and died September 30. Abel lived his very few days on this earth in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that was known by the hospital even before his birth to be contaminated by the infectious, waterborne bacteria.

“Through their media statements, Geisinger officials have made it painfully clear that they knew as early as this past August that their NICU was extraordinarily dangerous – it was literally infected – yet they did nothing to warn their healthcare customers or otherwise mitigate the catastrophic risks to which they knowingly exposed their most vulnerable patients," said Casey.

Casey, a founding partner of Ross Feller Casey, said the firm has already begun its own independent investigation into the circumstances leading to Abel’s death and expects to file a lawsuit against the hospital in the coming days. He added that he has already communicated with Geisinger officials and instructed them to preserve all written and electronic records regarding the outbreak.

Abel was one of three newborns at Geisinger’s neonatal intensive care unit in Danville to die from the pseudomonas bacteria. Five others were also stricken. Four of them have recovered, and one is still undergoing treatment. The tragic case has garnered headlines nationwide.

Casey said that comments from Geisinger officials at an Oct. 7 press conference, particularly those in the following two video clips, “provide devastating evidence that Geisinger knew about catastrophic risks to premature babies lurking in its NICU, and that it concealed this information both from the public and from my clients, resulting in the death of their precious child.”

Casey acknowledged that it is not customary to begin cases of this type with press statements. But, he added, “Geisinger has for the last week waged a media offensive advancing its side of the story.”

“It’s about time someone spoke out for these families and their dead children. That’s what we are going to do,” Casey said.

Casey, among the nation’s leading personal injury attorneys, has a long record of successfully litigating high-profile catastrophic injury cases across Pennsylvania.

News of the pending lawsuit generated widespread media coverage throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.

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