A Jefferson County couple is suing Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center after a 2003 surgery fire badly burned their premature 13-day-old baby.
The lawsuit filed in Denver District Court alleges flammable oxygen from a backup oxygen system became trapped under surgery sheets covering Ashley Basile.
Ashley needed surgery to fix a heart valve that hadn’t formed properly.
When surgeon Steven Rothenberg attempted to cauterize Ashley’s incision, the oxygen under the sheets ignited, the Basile family claims.
Seven years later, Ashley is still recovering, her parents say.
The burns on her right hand have healed into scars.
The hospital declined to talk about its policy or what changes it made to any surgery procedures.
It issued a statement saying it is disappointed that talks with the Basile family were unsuccessful.
