The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles California. They get the award for the following.

Excited about the birth of their first child, David and Lucina Marin already had decorated his nursery and prepared his crib when Lucina suddenly went into labor at 26 weeks.

On Nov. 17, Lucina delivered her son prematurely at White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights. The child weighed 2 pounds and was being treated for an immature lung but was expected to recover.

The couple named him Sibraim, which in Hebrew means "hope," in gratitude to God for sending them a child after Lucina overcame health problems during their eight-year marriage in her struggle to conceive.

On Monday, that hope was dashed when Sibraim died from a virulent bacterium, the second infant death believed related to an outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has forced the hospital to temporarily close its neonatal intensive care unit to new admissions.

Fighting back tears as they stood outside the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown Tuesday, the Marins announced they were filing a wrongful-death lawsuit against White Memorial, citing negligence and alleging that the hospital failed to promptly inform them about the bacterium.

"It was a human error," said David Marin as his wife stood behind him, sobbing. "We just want the hospital to take full responsibility for what they've done…. We are heartbroken."

The couple said they hoped their lawsuit would put pressure on the hospital to "never let this happen again."

On Tuesday evening, after consulting with county health officials, the hospital reopened its neonatal intensive care unit, said Dr. Rosario Lopez, the hospital's chief medical officer.

Hospital officials, who had not seen the lawsuit, declined to address Marin's specific allegations. But they said the hospital had been forthright about the outbreak.

"We notified the parents as soon as we had information," said Lopez.

The intensive care unit, which treats premature, underweight or seriously ill newborns, was closed Dec. 4, the same day the hospital notified the county of the outbreak, which had infected five infants. Ten others were found to have colonies of P. aeruginosa in their noses or rectums but no signs of infection.

Two infants are believed to have died of the bacterial infection, while most of the eight other patients that remained in the neonatal unit Tuesday who were either infected or had the bacteria in their systems were recovering.

An interim investigation by county health officials found that White Memorial recently changed how it cleaned its laryngoscope blades — instruments used to help insert breathing tubes. Lab tests showed a blade had P. aeruginosa on it even after it had been cleaned, investigators said.

The bacterium was also found in the sinks and faucets in the neonatal intensive care unit. P. aeruginosa is a common bacterium found in water and soil, and can be spread through body contact, fluids and water. It can be deadly in patients with weakened immune systems, such as premature babies, patients with cancer or AIDS and those on breathing machines.

Total incompetence and negligence by this hospital. Note the similarity to this story. The hospital probably tried to save some money and instead they killed two human lives and helped to ruin at least two others. I know, my son Daniel's four year death anniversary is coming up. The holidays are the worst time of the year for me, but I feel the loss daily. The wife and I always wondering what Daniel would be like if he was alive. We'll have to live with this loss till we die as will the Marins.

This hospital should pay through the nose for what they did but first I make White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles California today's Knucklehead of the Day.

Linked to- Amboy Times, Bright & Early, Cao's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Pursuing Holiness, Random Yak, Samantha Burns, Outside the Beltway, Third World County, Woman Honor Thyself,