ORLANDO, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A Florida hospital says federal emergency law protects it from a lawsuit alleging air scrubbers employed to fight COVID-19 caused a newborn's hearing loss.
Orlando Health, Inc., doing business as Winner Palmer Hospital, filed a motion to dismiss May 18 in Orlando state court against the lawsuit brought by Kelly and Christopher Sweeney in January.
According to the plaintiffs' complaint, on Aug. 14, 2021, Kelly Sweeney gave birth to Rowan Sweeney at the defendant's obstetrical emergency department. They allege that for approximately 12 hours after her birth, Rowan Sweeney was exposed to a loud air scrubber, which caused him to suffer hearing loss.
The plaintiffs claim the Air HEPA 500 Air Scrubber was "constantly running" in the "COVID pods" at the hospital and made a "loud humming or buzzing" sound.
They further claim the air scrubbers in the patient rooms were not the result of any federal, state or local government requirement and that the machines operate at a decibel range between 63 and 73, which is over the American Academy of Pediatrics 45 decibels maximum recommendation for newborns in neonatal intensive care units.
However, the hospital says, the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act shields it from liability for injuries caused by a countermeasure to COVID-19.
"(T)he air scrubbers that were installed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to create a 'negative pressure' in WPH's "(Women's Intensive Care Unit) rooms are covered countermeasures under the PREP Act," the motion says.
A similar Florida saw providing immunity also forces dismissal of the complaint, WPH says. It provides a shield for acts or omissions that were the result of "a lack of resources directly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Ms. Sweeney was sent to the WICU because she had tachycardia, asymptomatic premature ventricular contractions and possible ST elevation," the motion says. "Thus, Ms. Sweeney was placed in the WICU because of an emergency medical condition involving her heart.
"All of WPH's WICU rooms had air scrubbers in them in order to create negative pressure, a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic, there would have been no air scrubbers in the WICU rooms. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, WPH did not have any WICU rooms available that did not contain air scrubbers generating a significant amount of noise."