NEW YORK (Reuters) – Renal Care Group Inc. said Friday that it closed an Ohio dialysis unit after a patient undergoing treatment there died and another 18 were hospitalized with chills and fever.

The problem occurred Wednesday at the Youngstown unit and is being investigated by local, state and national authorities, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No cause of the symptoms has been determined.

Renal Care shares closed down 7/8 to $19-3/8 on the Nasdaq. They had traded as low as $14-1/2 earlier in the day.

The deceased patient was a 57-year-old man, said Evonne Woloschyn, a spokesperson for Forum Health, the parent company of Northside Medical Center, which treated 12 of the 19 patients.

Of the 11 patients remaining at Northside, Woloschyn said one was in critical condition, one was in guarded condition and nine were in stable condition. But all are improving, she added.

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Reuters

September 1, 2000

Renal Care closes unit after death

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Renal Care Group Inc. said Friday that it closed an Ohio dialysis unit after a patient undergoing treatment there died and another 18 were hospitalized with chills and fever.

The problem occurred Wednesday at the Youngstown unit and is being investigated by local, state and national authorities, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No cause of the symptoms has been determined.

Renal Care shares closed down 7/8 to $19-3/8 on the Nasdaq. They had traded as low as $14-1/2 earlier in the day.

The deceased patient was a 57-year-old man, said Evonne Woloschyn, a spokesperson for Forum Health, the parent company of Northside Medical Center, which treated 12 of the 19 patients.

Of the 11 patients remaining at Northside, Woloschyn said one was in critical condition, one was in guarded condition and nine were in stable condition. But all are improving, she added.

Eight other patients were taken to St. Elizabeth hospital in Youngstown, although one was almost immediately discharged, said hospital spokesperson Patty Rush. Of the five still in the hospital Friday afternoon, two were in intensive care and three were in an intermediate unit, she said.

Nashville-based Renal Care, which specializes in dialysis, a life-saving procedure in which machines are use to purify the blood of patients with damaged kidneys, said the situation was unique to the Youngstown facility and that none of its other facilities was in any way affected.

“As soon as we learned of the situation in Youngstown, we dispatched our chief medical officer and chief operating officer to lead the investigation into why these patients became sick and what factors might have contributed to their illnesses,” Sam Brooks, chairman and chief executive officer of Renal Care Group, said.

Brooks said in an interview that 24 patients were receiving dialysis treatments at the Youngstown unit on Wednesday afternoon and 20 of them began suffering flu-like symptoms “within the same hour.”

“They got very ill, were nauseous and throwing up and our medical director immediately shut down the water system because when something like this happens, it’s most likely (the fault of) the water system.”

He said one of the 20 patients did not need medical care but the other 19 were raced to nearby hospitals and that one of them died several hours after being admitted.

Brooks said a likely cause of the illnesses was bacteria that somehow made their way through a sophisticated “reverse osmosis” filtration system that removes impurities from the local water supply. The purified water is stored in tanks and then is intravenously supplied to patients.

“All dialysis units have extreme water purification systems because dialysis is basically water going through patients’ veins,” a mechanical substitute for kidneys in removing metabolic waste from the bloodstream, Brooks said.

The other possible culprit is a disinfectant used in the water purification process, he added.

Brooks said the problem was confined to the Youngstown unit, one of five in that city’s metropolitan area. “There isn’t a systemic problem with the way Renal Care Group operates its business and provides pure water.”

Although filters or machinery may prove to be at fault, Brooks said he did not think human error was involved.

“I’m confident that investigators will reveal this wasn’t the fault of any of our employees or physicians who are associated with us,” he said, adding the company had adequate insurance to compensate stricken patients and their families.

Renal Care said it treats about 15,900 patients at 193 dialysis centers and also provides acute dialysis services in 108 hospitals.

Peter Emch, an analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston, said he believed the company’s fundamentals remained strong and the sell-off in its shares created a buying opportunity for investors.

“It’s unfortunate and tragic,” Emch said of the Youngstown incident. “But we don’t think it will have material impact on the prospects of the company. It’s just one center out of almost 200 and there’s no reason to believe this will be a systemwide issue.”

Although the death and hospitalizations in the Ohio center are negative publicity, Emch forecast the vast majority of the company’s dialysis clients would remain loyal because it has operated as a public company since 1996 without any previous such episodes.

Eight other patients were taken to St. Elizabeth hospital in Youngstown, although one was almost immediately discharged, said hospital spokesperson Patty Rush. Of the five still in the hospital Friday afternoon, two were in intensive care and three were in an intermediate unit, she said.

Nashville-based Renal Care, which specializes in dialysis, a life-saving procedure in which machines are use to purify the blood of patients with damaged kidneys, said the situation was unique to the Youngstown facility and that none of its other facilities was in any way affected.

“As soon as we learned of the situation in Youngstown, we dispatched our chief medical officer and chief operating officer to lead the investigation into why these patients became sick and what factors might have contributed to their illnesses,” Sam Brooks, chairman and chief executive officer of Renal Care Group, said.

Brooks said in an interview that 24 patients were receiving dialysis treatments at the Youngstown unit on Wednesday afternoon and 20 of them began suffering flu-like symptoms “within the same hour.”

“They got very ill, were nauseous and throwing up and our medical director immediately shut down the water system because when something like this happens, it’s most likely (the fault of) the water system.”

He said one of the 20 patients did not need medical care but the other 19 were raced to nearby hospitals and that one of them died several hours after being admitted.

Brooks said a likely cause of the illnesses was bacteria that somehow made their way through a sophisticated “reverse osmosis” filtration system that removes impurities from the local water supply. The purified water is stored in tanks and then is intravenously supplied to patients.

“All dialysis units have extreme water purification systems because dialysis is basically water going through patients’ veins,” a mechanical substitute for kidneys in removing metabolic waste from the bloodstream, Brooks said.

The other possible culprit is a disinfectant used in the water purification process, he added.

Brooks said the problem was confined to the Youngstown unit, one of five in that city’s metropolitan area. “There isn’t a systemic problem with the way Renal Care Group operates its business and provides pure water.”

Although filters or machinery may prove to be at fault, Brooks said he did not think human error was involved.

“I’m confident that investigators will reveal this wasn’t the fault of any of our employees or physicians who are associated with us,” he said, adding the company had adequate insurance to compensate stricken patients and their families.

Renal Care said it treats about 15,900 patients at 193 dialysis centers and also provides acute dialysis services in 108 hospitals.

Peter Emch, an analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston, said he believed the company’s fundamentals remained strong and the sell-off in its shares created a buying opportunity for investors.

“It’s unfortunate and tragic,” Emch said of the Youngstown incident. “But we don’t think it will have material impact on the prospects of the company. It’s just one center out of almost 200 and there’s no reason to believe this will be a systemwide issue.”

Although the death and hospitalizations in the Ohio center are negative publicity, Emch forecast the vast majority of the company’s dialysis clients would remain loyal because it has operated as a public company since 1996 without any previous such episodes.