Hospital sued over stolen painkillers during labor

Nov. 25, 2008
Suit alleges hospital negligent in hiring and supervising of employee who plead guilty to theft

Nov. 23--STAMFORD -- A Stamford woman whose epidural was stolen while she was in labor at Stamford Hospital two years ago has filed a lawsuit with her husband against the hospital and the man who pleaded guilty to stealing the drug.

Saima and Andrew Loglisci state in the lawsuit that the hospital was negligent in hiring, supervising and employing Preston Goldsmith, the 34-year-old physician's assistant charged with reckless endangerment, fourth-degree larceny and second-degree breach of peace in the theft.

Goldsmith, of Tarrytown, N.Y., pleaded guilty in May and is serving three years of probation.

The suit, filed Nov. 12, also says the hospital failed to protect Loglisci and provide adequate security during her Oct. 3, 2006, hospitalization. An employee injected the painkiller Fentanyl into her spine after her water broke, and Andrew Loglisci was advised to leave her to rest, the suit states. Later, Goldsmith entered her room, pretending to be part of her medical team, and stole her epidural, the suit states. Loglisci awoke a short time later in pain, and her rising blood pressure set off an alarm, the lawsuit states.

The couple also claims that the hospital staff delayed in providing a second epidural and became more concerned with apprehending Goldsmith than with providing Loglisci with medical care. Staff members, while she was giving birth, approached her with a photograph of Goldsmith, asking whether that was the man who had entered her room, according to the suit.

Goldsmith

told hospital security that he had taken the drugs to give to his dying dog, according to his arrest warrant affidavit. He claimed to have tossed the drug on the Merritt Parkway after he couldn't determine how to use the Fentanyl, but investigators were unable to find it, records show.

"He denied all along that he took the drugs," the prosecutor, Deputy Assistant State's Attorney David Applegate, said during the May court proceedings. "Obviously, we were very skeptical of that."

The couple is seeking damages of more than $15,000.