{"id":517059,"date":"2026-03-11T12:55:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/517059\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T12:55:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:55:29","slug":"lawsuits-claim-ku-med-deaths-tied-to-contaminated-devices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/517059\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuits claim KU Med deaths tied to contaminated devices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ron Wood\u2019s open-heart surgery at The University of Kansas Hospital<\/a> to replace an aortic valve in 2019 couldn\u2019t have gone better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt went fantastic,\u201d said his wife, Thelma. \u201cHe felt just as good as he\u2019s felt in any day of his life … he could really walk a long way without getting out of breath or having any kind of complications.\u201d<\/p>\n

One evening, she said, he ventured out into their Olathe neighborhood and was gone for so long that she had to call the police to help find him.<\/p>\n

\"Ron Ron and Thelma Wood a week after Ron\u2019s open-heart surgery at The University of Kansas Hospital in 2019. Ron later was diagnosed with M. chimaera infection and died in 2022. Provided by Thelma Wood <\/p>\n

But in early 2021, he started losing weight, Thelma Wood said. At first, he was excited, proud of himself for \u201cgetting in shape.\u201d But at the next doctor\u2019s appointment, he\u2019d shed more pounds. And by the third checkup, she said, he\u2019d dropped more weight and had started walking with a cane.<\/p>\n

Before long, he was down 60 pounds and was so weak he had to use a walker to get around.<\/p>\n

His condition continued to deteriorate, she said, and after a multitude of visits to medical providers, Wood finally got a diagnosis in September 2021. He had a serious \u2014 sometimes deadly \u2014 infection caused by a bacteria called M. chimaera.<\/a><\/p>\n

The brutal infection literally sucked the life out of him, Thelma Wood said. He died on Jan. 5, 2022, at 71.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just wrecked my world,\u201d she said. \u201cNot a day goes by that I don\u2019t think of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody should hurt like this. Nobody. Just for something that could have been avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ron Wood\u2019s case was far from isolated. The Star found 31 lawsuits filed in Wyandotte County District Court alleging that 25 patients at The University of Kansas Hospital contracted the infection after undergoing open-heart surgery involving a device that hadn\u2019t been properly disinfected. In those cases, 11 of the patients died and others are living with life-altering health problems, according to the lawsuits.<\/p>\n

The lawsuits name The University of Kansas Hospital Authority and LivaNova USA<\/a> Inc., the company that manufactured the devices, as defendants.<\/p>\n

More than a dozen of the cases have resulted in confidential settlements with KU, court documents show, and one case in which the patient died was dismissed on the grounds that it was filed past the deadline. The first of the pending cases is scheduled to go to trial on April 13.<\/p>\n

An additional lawsuit was filed in January in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, against LivaNova and an employee at The University of Kansas Hospital called a perfusionist who was in charge of the heater-cooler device during the surgery of a patient who later died.<\/p>\n

Thelma Wood and Kristy Schroll are among those who have filed lawsuits against The University of Kansas Hospital Authority and LivaNova. The Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman law firm in Kansas City is representing them and several other families and individuals in pending M. chimaera cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was devastating, because we were so blessed to have someone like my dad in my life,\u201d said Kristy Schroll, whose father, Darrell Schroll, died July 26, 2023, from the infection. \u201cWe feel like time was stolen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a terrible end to his life, a terrible death filled with fear and anxiety and pain. And we feel that this was so preventable. It was just such an egregious death. And we\u2019re angry. We\u2019re really angry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kristy Kristy Schroll\u2019s father, Darrell Schroll, of Manhattan, Kansas, died of M. chimaera infection that a lawsuit alleges he contracted from a contaminated heater-cooler device used during his open-heart surgery at The University of Kansas Hospital. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com KU and LivaNova respond<\/p>\n

Dan Peters, general counsel for The University of Kansas Health System, told The Star in a statement that \u201cgiven this matter is the subject of ongoing litigation, we are limited in what we can share.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University of Kansas Health System provides care to patients with complex needs,\u201d he said. \u201cOur culture and decisions are focused on how best to meet those needs. Based on the information we had at the time, we took the steps we believed were necessary to keep patients safe, while continuing to provide life-saving surgical interventions that otherwise would not have been available without this critical medical device.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peters said in the statement that \u201cwhen we learned about potential impacts of these devices, we proactively reached out to patients who may have been affected to support their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, the health system has all new devices with a design change that eliminated the previous condition that created the potential for infection,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

LivaNova issued a response to The Star\u2019s questions about the lawsuits in an email from one of its attorneys.<\/p>\n

\"The The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com <\/p>\n

\u201cAt LivaNova, patient care and product quality remain central to everything we do,\u201d it said. \u201cThe Company stands firmly behind the 3T\u2122 Heater-Cooler device, having worked closely with global regulators to mitigate risk and ensure continued clinician access to this critical technology for lifesaving cardiac surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we do not comment on the specifics of ongoing litigation, we are vigorously defending the product and company actions in these cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is M. chimaera?<\/p>\n

Mycobacterium chimaera, or M. chimaera,<\/a> is a slow-growing bacteria found in soil and water. Though rare, it has been associated with a global outbreak of infections among patients who have undergone open-heart surgery that involved the use of heater-cooler devices. These devices contain pumps that circulate water during bypass procedures to regulate a patient\u2019s temperature.<\/p>\n

The units are used in conjunction with a heart-lung machine, which takes over the function of the heart and lungs during heart surgery. Studies found that in contaminated heater-cooler devices, the aerosolized vapor is pushed out of the water tanks by exhaust fans, spreading bacteria through the air in the operating room. That bacteria can then enter a patient\u2019s open cavity, leading to infection.<\/p>\n

Diagnosis can be challenging. Because the infections develop slowly, it can take from weeks to several years for symptoms to surface. And the symptoms \u2014 including fatigue, swelling, persistent cough, high fever, nausea, shortness of breath and muscle pain \u2014 are non-specific, meaning they could also be signs of other health issues.<\/p>\n

In October 2015, the Food and Drug Administration issued a safety communication<\/a> to medical facilities and health care providers to raise awareness about infections associated with heater-cooler devices and provide steps to take to reduce risks to patients.<\/p>\n

In 2016, LivaNova implemented a program<\/a> that allowed hospitals to switch out their heater-cooler units with new \u201cloaner\u201d ones that were considered safer.<\/p>\n

On July 14, 2017, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of M. chimaera infections in two patients who were exposed to the heater-cooler devices at what it referred to as \u201chospital A\u201d from April to June 2017, according to a report published in 2021. \u201cHospital A\u201d was a reference to The University of Kansas Hospital.<\/p>\n

The report, \u201cMycobacterium chimaera infections among cardiothoracic surgery patients associated with heater-cooler devices \u2014 Kansas and California, 2019,\u201d was published by Cambridge University Press. It said that in response to the infections, on July 1, 2017, the hospital had replaced its five units with five new loaner units from LivaNova that were said to have a lower risk of contamination.<\/p>\n

Despite that action, the report said, KDHE later notified the CDC of 11 additional patients with M. chimaera infections associated with heart surgeries from February to December 2019. On Dec. 3, 2019, a CDC team joined KDHE and hospital staff to investigate the cause of the infections.<\/p>\n

The team discovered that in October 2018, hospital staff began draining the water tanks every day and stopped the daily monitoring of hydrogen peroxide concentration and disinfection of the water circuits every 14 days as recommended by the manufacturer.<\/p>\n

The assumption, the report said, was that the daily draining of the water tanks would reduce the risk of bacteria growth and eliminate the need for regular disinfection. But it said that the tubing in the heater-cooler units and their water basins retain water despite draining, which promotes bacterial growth.<\/p>\n

The team also found that only one of the hospital\u2019s heater-cooler units had been upgraded as recommended by the manufacturer in 2018 to reduce the risk of exposure to M. chimaera. And during one of the surgeries they observed, the report said, the unit was positioned toward the surgical area as the patient was intubated and also during the skin closure.<\/p>\n

\"The The University of Kansas Medical Center is pictured on Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Kansas City, Kansas. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com <\/p>\n

Investigators also noticed that the filling and draining of the heater-cooler devices was being done inside the operating room, and water was seen on the operating room floor due to overflow of the units or to the change in tubing.<\/p>\n

Almost all of the patients in the pending Wyandotte County lawsuits who contracted M. chimaera had heart surgery in 2019, during the time frame when the units weren\u2019t being disinfected according to the manufacturer\u2019s instructions.<\/p>\n

What do the lawsuits allege?<\/p>\n

In his statement to The Star, the hospital\u2019s general counsel did not respond to questions about how many lawsuits had been filed in regard to the heater-cooler devices or how many had been settled. The settlements have been confidential.<\/p>\n

The Star found 10 lawsuits pending in Wyandotte County District Court. The cases were filed between October 2020 and February 2024, records show.<\/p>\n

The lawsuits allege that the hospital failed to follow the specific recommendations to minimize or eliminate the risk of airborne M. chimaera transmission from the heater-cooler devices used during the open-heart surgeries.<\/p>\n

That included failing to properly disinfect the units before using them and failing to isolate the equipment from the operating rooms during the surgeries. The failures led to M. chimaera infection and, in some cases, death, the lawsuits allege.<\/p>\n

The lawsuits also allege that LivaNova failed to use reasonable care to design and provide proper instructions for the safe use of the heater-cooler devices in open-heart surgeries.<\/p>\n

According to the lawsuits, the units were \u201cdefectively manufactured\u201d in a way that allowed a biofilm to develop that contained M. chimaera. Then, when the aerosolized vapor was \u201cset loose\u201d from the devices in the operating room during the surgeries, the lawsuits say, the M. chimaera in the vapor settled on or into the patients\u2019 open surgical wounds, \u201cseeding\u201d their infections.<\/p>\n

\"The The University of Kansas Health System, Medical Pavilion at 2000 Olathe Blvd., is pictured on Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Kansas City, Kansas. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com <\/p>\n

LivaNova was further negligent, the lawsuits say, in that its warnings and directions for use were insufficient to protect patients from M. chimaera infections.<\/p>\n

The first of the pending lawsuits to go to trial is the case of Stephen Nolte, of Raytown, who died July 8, 2020, at 71. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 26, 2021, by his wife and son.<\/p>\n

Nolte underwent an aortic valve replacement at The University of Kansas Hospital on March 6, 2019, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a direct and proximate result of Defendants\u2019 conduct,\u201d it says, \u201cStephen W. Nolte developed disseminated M. chimaera infection causing him to endure pain, suffering, disability, mental anguish and the loss of enjoyment of life from fatigue, lethargy, liver disease, cirrhosis of the liver, acute kidney injury, pancytopenia, thyroiditis, shortness of breath, heart failure, sepsis, encephalopathy, and chorioretinitis\u201d from the day of his surgery to his death.<\/p>\n

Lawsuits have been filed against LivaNova in other states as well.<\/p>\n

In March 2019, LivaNova PLC announced an agreement<\/a> to settle about 75% of the personal injury lawsuits that were pending in federal and state courts across the United States involving the company\u2019s heater-cooler devices. The agreement called for up to $225 million to resolve the claims, the announcement said.<\/p>\n

And a November 2023 document filed by LivaNova in one of the Wyandotte County cases said there had been \u201chundreds of lawsuits filed in state and federal courts\u201d involving the 3T Heater-Cooler system.<\/p>\n

\u2018I feel like I\u2019m dying\u2019<\/p>\n

In early 2019, Manhattan business owner Darrell Schroll noticed he was getting increasingly short of breath and fatigued \u2014 unusual symptoms for the Vietnam veteran who was always on the go. His doctor thought perhaps his asthma was getting a bit worse, so he tried a different inhaler.<\/p>\n

Then one morning, while participating in a bass fishing tournament in Texas, he woke up with extremely swollen legs and was having difficulty breathing.<\/p>\n

\"Darrell Darrell Schroll, of Manhattan, contracted a serious infection caused by a bacteria called M. chimaera after having open-heart surgery in 2019 at The University of Kansas Hospital. He died on July 26, 2023, at 74. A series of lawsuits allege that the bacteria was spread from contaminated heater-cooler devices used during the surgeries. Provided by Kristy Schroll <\/p>\n

Schroll got in his pickup and drove 12 hours back to Manhattan, pulling his boat behind. He went straight to the ER and was immediately transferred to The University of Kansas Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I still remember the doctor coming in after running a series of tests and saying, \u2018You\u2019re in end-stage heart failure, and you maybe have a week or two to live,\u2019\u201d his daughter, Kristy, told The Star. \u201cWe had no idea. No idea whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n

They learned that her father had a gene mutation that affects the body\u2019s ability to make heart muscle, Kristy Schroll said. He was offered a procedure to install a Left Ventricular Assistive Device<\/a>, or LVAD, in his chest. The mechanical device helps the left ventricle of the heart pump blood to the rest of the body.<\/p>\n

On March 26, 2019, Schroll, then 70, underwent an open-chest cardiac surgical procedure at The University of Kansas Hospital for placement of the LVAD.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very healthy, very active person,\u201d said Kristy Schroll, a physician assistant who lives in Johnson County. \u201cHe was an exemplary patient. He was up the next day, walking circles around the nurses on the cardiac floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kristy Kristy Schroll talks about her father, Darrell Schroll, of Manhattan, Kansas, who died of M. chimaera infection on July 26, 2023. The family has filed a lawsuit alleging that he contracted the infection from a contaminated heater-cooler device used during his open-heart surgery in 2019 at The University of Kansas Hospital. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com <\/p>\n

Her dad did great the next few years, Kristy said, going fishing and taking daily walks in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him, an important measure of health is my mom, who he was married to for 50 years,\u201d she said. \u201cShe is disabled, and so he was her driver and her caregiver. And so for him to be well enough to be able to provide that care was really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January 2023, Schroll began losing weight and feeling weak.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was an avid reader, and he started having trouble reading and seeing, concentrating,\u201d Kristy said. \u201cAt one point, he used the words, \u2018I feel like I\u2019m dying.\u2019 When patients have a sense of doom, you kind of take that seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

His doctor was stumped about what was causing the problems. That May, Kristy said, a large cyst formed on his surgical scar. He returned to The University of Kansas Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took him into surgery, and they thought they would try to cut out all the infected tissue they could,\u201d Kristy said. \u201cAfter the surgery, the doctor pulled me into the family consultation room, and he said, \u2018You know, we\u2019ve taken probably about at least a two-inch circumference round piece of tissue, and probably two inches deep.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he said, \u2018I couldn\u2019t keep cutting.\u2019 And it was obvious that the infection went far beyond this. He said, \u2018I can tell it\u2019s probably in his heart. It\u2019s in his LVAD.\u2019 And he goes, \u2018It might be this M. chimaera stuff.\u2019 And he goes, \u2018Yeah, you know, there\u2019s no treatment for it.\u2019 And then he left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Darrell Darrell Schroll, pictured with his daughter, Kristy, and wife, Janet, contracted a serious infection caused by a bacteria called M. chimaera after having open-heart surgery in 2019 at The University of Kansas Hospital. He died on July 26, 2023, at 74. A series of lawsuits allege that the bacteria was spread from contaminated heater-cooler devices used during the surgeries. Provided by Kristy Schroll <\/p>\n

Kristy was confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cMycobacterium chimaera is such a rare source of infection, I couldn\u2019t understand,\u201d she said. \u201cHow could my dad have even been exposed to this? I had heard of chimaera, but again, it\u2019s not something that I ever expected to encounter in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defeated, angry and scared<\/p>\n

Darrell Schroll continued to lose weight and get weaker.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe infectious disease doctor let us know that they could see the infection was in one of his eyes,\u201d Kristy said. \u201cThey suspected it was in his brain. It was in his heart, his lungs, his LVAD, his liver. It had fully disseminated at that point, and they brought palliative care in to start consulting.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point, she said, he\u2019d become too weak to get out of a chair or turn himself over in bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was in a lot of pain, because he was skin and bones,\u201d she said. \u201cJust lying in that hospital bed was painful. He wouldn\u2019t sleep. He would cough all night. He couldn\u2019t read at that point. He couldn\u2019t watch TV, he couldn\u2019t eat. He was suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The palliative care experts told them that he would need to be on a multiantibiotic regimen for a long time. The medications would put him at a high risk of losing his vision and hearing and further damage his kidneys, they said, and he would continue to be nauseous.<\/p>\n

He asked if he would ever get well enough to keep caring for his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what breaks my heart,\u201d Kristy said, struggling to keep her composure. \u201cAnd they said, \u2018We really don\u2019t think you\u2019ll ever get to that point.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he said at that point, \u2018I don\u2019t think I can do this anymore.\u2019 And my dad was the most stoic, tough, brave person. He was a Vietnam War vet, and had been like through torture training, and it was so important for him to be brave. And when he said that, I realized he had been suffering more than we knew and more than he had told us.\u201d<\/p>\n

After consulting with the palliative care team and his team of specialists, Kristy said, \u201cIt was decided the most humane decision would be to unplug the battery from his LVAD, which would then, of course, make his heart take over the pumping. And they knew that he would not be able to sustain life at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Darrell Darrell Schroll, pictured here with his wife, Janet, contracted a serious infection caused by a bacteria called M. chimaera after having open-heart surgery in 2019 at The University of Kansas Hospital. He died on July 26, 2023, at 74. A series of lawsuits allege that the bacteria was spread from contaminated heater-cooler devices used during the surgeries. Provided by Kristy Schroll <\/p>\n

It was during Schroll\u2019s final hospitalization, Kristy said, that the family got solid confirmation that he had M. chimaera infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the infectious disease doctors came in and said, \u2018You know, this is clearly M. chimaera, and we\u2019ve had other patients before your father be diagnosed with this,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd he said that \u2018we believe that the heater-cooler units that we were given were contaminated with M. chimaera.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Schroll died on July 26, 2023, three days shy of his 51st wedding anniversary. He was 74.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like time was stolen,\u201d Kristy said. \u201cHe was the kind of person that led by example. He was the rock of the family. He was the person you could call any hour for anything \u2026 And I watched him feel defeated and angry and scared. He was very proud, and he felt towards the end that he had little dignity left.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes the lawsuits will serve several purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the public to be made aware of what I feel is such clear negligence leading to all of these poor families and the victims of this who either have died or are now burdened with a catastrophic infection that I think will affect the rest of their life and their quality of life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I want KU to be held accountable. I feel like there were so many missed opportunities along the way, especially once the infections started coming, to try to investigate on their own and figure out why are these infections happening? And I am hopeful for myself, for the other families and victims of this, that there\u2019s some sense of justice in educating the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018To me, he was everything\u2019<\/p>\n

The pain of losing Ronnie is still too much at times for Thelma Wood.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, I said I was gonna get through it,\u201d she said, fighting back tears as she talked about her husband, a retired city bus driver, and their 27 years together.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, he was everything. Very supportive of his family, and he took good care of me. Jack of all trades, he could fix anything around the house, the plumbing, the electricity, the garden, and he could do all that. He was just a great, great guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout 2020, she said, he was \u201cjust doing fantastic,\u201d continuing to get along well after his April 2019 open-heart surgery.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then that stopped. He got to feeling very weak. But he didn\u2019t know what was going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ron Ron Wood enjoys some time with his wife, Thelma. Wood, of Olathe, contracted a serious infection caused by a bacteria called M. chimaera after having open-heart surgery in 2019 at The University of Kansas Hospital. He died on Jan. 5, 2022, at 71. A series of lawsuits allege that the bacteria was spread from contaminated heater-cooler devices used during the surgeries. Provided by Thelma Wood <\/p>\n

On Feb. 19, 2021, Ron Wood saw his primary care provider. He\u2019d gone from 259 pounds to 241 pounds in three months and was having swelling and pain in his right wrist.<\/p>\n

Wood saw his doctor again on May 7, 2021, this time for a persistent cough. The doctor diagnosed him with pneumonia and put him on an antibiotic. His weight had dropped to 222 pounds. Twelve days later, he was back at his doctor\u2019s with fatigue, a cough and more weight loss.<\/p>\n

The decline continued. Wood was diagnosed with liver disease and continued to lose weight and experience severe fatigue and brain fogginess. Even so, Thelma Wood said, his heart surgeon didn\u2019t seem concerned at an appointment in August 2021, giving them \u201ctwo thumbs up\u201d and telling them he was \u201cdoing great\u201d from a cardiac standpoint.<\/p>\n

By early September, Wood could no longer walk or bathe himself and had lost 80 pounds. For months, he\u2019d been to various specialists \u2014 kidney, lungs, liver \u2014 to try and figure out what was happening to him. And the frustration mounted with every visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was too weak to go to these appointments,\u201d Thelma Wood said. \u201cAnd I keep saying, \u2018Why are you sending him? Can\u2019t you just see what\u2019s wrong with him? Can\u2019t you tell me something?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018He just plain didn\u2019t recover\u2019<\/p>\n

Finally, she said, a pulmonary doctor noticed the tears behind her face mask and asked what was wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I said, \u2018We need help. Nobody\u2019s helping us. This is a sick man, and nobody is doing anything but sending us to a doctor, doctor, doctor. And he\u2019s not able to get in and out of the car.\u2019 And he said, \u2018You want me to put him in the hospital?\u2019 I said, \u2018Please.\u2019 So he called downstairs, and that\u2019s how we got to the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a few days, Thelma said, an infectious disease doctor told them that Ron\u2019s lab results showed he had M. chimaera infection. He was hospitalized for seven weeks. During that time, she said, he underwent another open-heart surgery to try to remove the infected areas.<\/p>\n

\"Ron Ron Wood, of Olathe, contracted a serious infection caused by a bacteria called M. chimaera after having open-heart surgery in 2019 at The University of Kansas Hospital. After losing 80 pounds, he died on Jan. 5, 2022, at 71. A series of lawsuits allege that the bacteria was spread from contaminated heater-cooler devices used during the surgeries. Provided by Thelma Wood <\/p>\n

After he went home, Wood had to go back to the hospital to change his medication, because it wasn\u2019t working. Once he was back home again, Thelma said, \u201che just plain didn\u2019t recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January 2022, she said, one of his caretakers came to the house to help him exercise. But he\u2019d been throwing up all morning and was so weak he couldn\u2019t even lift his legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he looked up at me, and he said, \u2018Call the paramedics.\u2019 And I knew then that something was wrong, because he would not let you call them for being ill or anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

They took him out on a stretcher, she said, and that was the last time she ever spoke to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was sedated at the hospital,\u201d she said. \u201cI was there day and night.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the third morning, Thelma said, she was told it was time to make a decision. She had a FaceTime call with Ron\u2019s family members, and they all said their goodbyes. And on Jan. 5, 2022, he was taken off life support.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that was it,\u201d she said, wiping away the tears. \u201cIt just breaks my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thelma Wood didn\u2019t know at the time about the contamination problem with the heater-cooler devices used in her husband\u2019s surgery. But the hospital had known about it for two years, her lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy January 2020,\u201d it says, \u201cDefendant KUHA and The University of Kansas Hospital were aware of at least nine of their cardiothoracic surgery patients having positive M. chimaera cultures between February 2019 and December 2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thelma Wood said the experience has left her devastated and confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could you not clean a machine when you\u2019re given instructions on what to do?\u201d she said. \u201cEven after they knew, they still did open-heart surgeries on other people. I\u2019m so disappointed that they would let something like this affect this many families. And I don\u2019t understand why.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, that was just a small step they could have taken to just ensure that families could have had a fuller life. Of course, he\u2019s going to die eventually. Of course, I\u2019m going to die eventually. But we could have had more years together \u2014 many more years together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Loading\u2026<\/p>\n

This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 5:30 AM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Judy L Thomas<\/a><\/p>\n

The Kansas City Star<\/p>\n

Judy L. Thomas joined The Kansas City Star in 1995 and focuses on investigative and watchdog journalism. Over three decades, she has covered domestic terrorism, clergy sex abuse and government accountability. Her stories have received numerous national honors.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ron Wood\u2019s open-heart surgery at The University of Kansas Hospital to replace an aortic valve in 2019 couldn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517060,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[16411,97,252,253,19210,21729,233773,233772],"class_list":["post-517059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-contamination","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-heart-surgery","tag-infection","tag-ku-med","tag-university-of-kansas-hospital"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517059"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517059\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}