Hospital staff put feeding tube in woman's airway, sending food or liquids to her lungs and killing her: Lawsuit

A Connecticut pistillate suffered a collapsed lung, sepsis and different deadly complications aft a hospital doc adjunct "improperly inserted" a feeding conduit into her airway, a lawsuit alleges.

Instead of traveling down Irene Perretta's esophagus and into her digestive tract, the feeding conduit that she was expected to person astatine Bridgeport Hospital's Milford Campus was placed down the 80-year-old's windpipe oregon trachea, according to a ailment filed by her household successful Bridgeport Superior Court.

The conduit "pierced into the surrounding pleural space" and caused a "pneumothorax, collapsed lung and a close sided pleural effusion that required placement of a thorax tube," the ailment says.

The mistake allegedly contributed to complications that included "sepsis, empyema and/or aspiration pneumonia," which Perretta's household members assertion led to her decease successful March 2025. They are suing Bridgeport Hospital and its operator, Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation, for aesculapian negligence.

"As a nonstop effect the decedent sustained further injury, required further invasive involution and suffered a materially worsened objective course, further contributing to the deterioration of the decedent's aesculapian information resulting and/or contributing to her death," the ailment says.

Perretta's household alleges that erstwhile she was treated astatine the infirmary connected May 28 and 29, 2024, aesculapian unit improperly inserted a feeding tube, causing it to participate her "airway and/or pleural space," oregon the lining that surrounded the lungs. The alleged mistake acceptable disconnected a concatenation of aesculapian complications that could easy person been avoided, according to the complaint.

"The modular of attraction required nonsubjective radiographic confirmation of close tube-tip presumption beneath the diaphragm earlier the conduit was utilized for immoderate feeding, medication, oregon flush," a board-certified doc and chap of the American College of Physicians wrote successful an sentiment missive and reappraisal of Perretta's case, which her household has included successful the complaint.

"The occurrence of a pneumothorax and the imaginable pleural contamination powerfully suggest that this modular was not met," the doc said. "As a nonstop and proximate result, Ms. Perretta sustained further injury, required further invasive intervention, and suffered a materially worsened objective course."

The ailment accuses Bridgeport Hospital and its unit of failing to supply the level of attraction expected of aesculapian professionals successful Connecticut. Among the alleged failures, the ailment says, the aesculapian unit "failed to decently diagnose and dainty the decedent" and "failed to decently show the decedent's condition" aft allegedly botching the feeding conduit procedure. It besides accuses aesculapian unit of not afloat explaining the feeding conduit procedure's risks, alternatives oregon benefits earlier insertion.

"The decedent sustained achy imperishable and terrible idiosyncratic injuries and damages which contributed to her decease and affectional distress and intelligence anguish from the improper insertion of a feeding tube," the ailment concludes.

Perretta's household is seeking monetary damages and different relief.

Yale New Haven Health expressed condolences to the household successful a connection to the Hartford Courant, but declined to remark connected the lawsuit.

"Bridgeport Hospital extends our sincere condolences to the patient's household and loved ones arsenic they grieve this loss," a spokesperson said. "Our caregivers enactment hard to supply compassionate, high-quality attraction to each diligent we serve. Because this substance is successful litigation, we volition code the allegations done the due ineligible channels."

Yale New Haven Health has filed a question seeking dismissal, arguing that the suit does not conscionable definite procedural requirements nether Connecticut law. The question besides argues that the sentiment missive and lawsuit reappraisal provided by the doc successful the ailment deficiency capable factual item explaining however infirmary unit allegedly departed from the applicable modular of care.

Perretta's obituary describes her arsenic a "courageous woman" who survived bosom crab and colon cancer. "She ne'er fto immoderate situation get her down," the obituary says.