Mother Of Brooklyn Boy Killed By MRSA Sues City For $25 Million

The Cochran Firm, with 21 locations nationwide

NEW YORK -- The mother of a 12-year-old Brooklyn boy who died last week from the drug resistant staph infection MRSA has put the city on notice she is suing for $25 million. Aileen Rivera announced the lawsuit Tuesday at her attorneys office at the Cochran Firm in Manhattan.

The city Health Department said Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, or MRSA, likely killed Omar Rivera, a student at Intermediate School 211 in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn.

School officials urged parents to report any signs of antibiotic-resistant staph infections after the incident, but city health officials said there was "no reason to believe that other children or school employees are at increased risk," saying deadly staph infections were unusual outside health care settings.

MRSA cases have gained attention since a government report this month found more than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly staph infections each year.

The bacteria can be carried by healthy people, living on their skin or in their noses. Most drug-resistant staph cases are mild skin infections, but severe infections can enter the bloodstream or destroy flesh and become deadly.

The bacteria does not respond to penicillin-related antibiotics once commonly used to treat them, partly because of overuse. They can be treated with other drugs.

The attorney for Ms. Rivera said the suit will name the city and its hospital system.

The MRSA disease was blamed for the death of a 17-year-old Virginia high school senior this month. At least seven students on Long Island have recently been diagnosed with MRSA, as were a security guard at a school in Newark, three other people linked to schools in Paterson and 10 members of an athletic team at Iona College in New Rochelle.

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