A 67-year-old Iowa man, Steve Schwarz, had to undergo spinal surgery back in 2020. However, as a result, he was diagnosed with MRSA, a serious bacterial infection. Doctors prescribed him the antibiotic doxycycline, and he was sent to an inpatient care home. There, however, his doctor allegedly discontinued his medication prematurely. Less than a month later, Schwarz died, according to the Daily Mail.
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According to Mayo Clinic, MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a bacterial infection that is very resistant to many antibiotics. This infection can lead to severe complications if left untreated, affecting the bloodstream, lungs, heart, bones, and joints. Therefore, it was of vital importance that Schwarz, after he was diagnosed with the infection, followed his prescription to the teeth.
However, when Schwarz arrived at the inpatient care home, things didn't go as planned. According to a lawsuit filed by Scharz's family, Dr. Michelle Sprengelmeyr at Cedar Manor refused to follow the instructions sent by the doctors at the hospital where he was diagnosed. She, allegedly, discontinued the medication which led to Schawrz's infection spreading.
Only three weeks later, Schwarz had to be rushed back to the hospital. According to Schwarz's daughter, Heather Barrett, doctors were astounded when they discovered the extent of his infection.
"When he was finally transferred [to the hospital], the infectious disease experts at the University of Iowa Hospitals were shocked that they had discontinued his antibiotic and that no one had followed up on his MRSA diagnosis," Barrett told KWWL. "We didn't learn about it until that moment and literally I think it was an hour or two later... my dad was placed on hospice care."
Just days after he was placed in hospice care, Steve Schwarz died on June 22, 2020.
Millionaire Settlement
In 2024, Heather Barrett sued the doctors for his father's treatment. A jury eventually awarded Barrett $1.65 million in damages, concluding that Dr. Springlemeyer failed to properly treat Schwarz's infection with antibiotics, according to KWWL.
However, no money in the world will suffice to compensate for even a fraction of the joy of having a parent with you. Barrett described her father as a "strong, active man who was just starting to enjoy his retirement."
"He rode ATVs, hopped in his car for cross-country road trips to surprise us [in California]," Barrett said. "It was too late when we discovered the infection wasn't being treated with antibiotics. It was awful, my dad deserved better care."
