Hospital Sued in ‘Flesh-Eating Bacteria’ Death

The second lawsuit in less than a year alleging that local doctors did not diagnose the so-called “flesh-eating bacteria” in time to save a life was filed in Ventura County Superior Court on Wednesday against the Westlake Medical Center and seven doctors.

The strange ailment killed Charles S. Thrower in March. The 39-year-old Agoura man died at Los Robles Regional Medical Center on March 9, a day after doctors moved him from Westlake Medical Center.

Los Robles Regional Medical Center is not named in the suit filed by Thrower’s family. But Thrower’s widow, Cheryl Thrower, accuses Westlake Medical Center and its staff of failing to diagnose the quick-acting virulent strep infection quickly enough to save the health-care executive’s life. Thrower is also survived by a 12-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.

“The doctors initially failed to realize what they had,” attorney Sandra Tyson said. “By the time they diagnosed the disease, it was much too late.”

The suit alleges that hospital staff members “failed to obtain timely medical consultations and negligently delayed surgery and other treatments until it was too late to be of benefit.”

Thrower was the second person in the county known to die of necrotizing fasciitis. Ventura County Community College District Chancellor Thomas G. Lakin died at Los Robles Regional Medical Center four months before Thrower died.

Tyson represented Lakin’s family, who sued the Los Robles Regional Medical Center and six doctors for malpractice. The suit was settled in October and terms were kept confidential.

The suit filed Wednesday alleges that doctors initially misdiagnosed the disease in Thrower. Tyson said Thrower’s physicians believed he was suffering a flare-up of lupus, an arthritic-like disease.

Although Thrower’s arm was swollen, the swelling was not considered during the initial diagnosis, Tyson said.

“Nobody paid attention to the swelling until it was too late,” Tyson said.

Thrower was taken to the Westlake Medical Center emergency room March 6 complaining of a high fever, sickness, severe pain in his knee joints and a badly swollen arm, Tyson said.

Tyson called the initial lupus diagnosis “logical to consider but it still didn’t explain the high temperature and increased heart rate.”

The suit alleges that doctors took too long to transfer Thrower to Los Robles Regional Medical Center, which is better equipped to fight the fast-spreading disease.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Hospital officials declined comment.