NJ Hospital Must Pay $3M To Family Of Mom Who Died Of Flesh-Eating Bacteria

A Camden County Superior Court jury awarded the money to the family of 54-year-old Adrienne Nock — who visited Jefferson Washington Township Hospital visited twice with symptoms before she died in 2017, according to the law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky. 

Nock, of Franklinville, was remembered as a "beloved" client advocate for the Camden County Board of Social Services.

The lawsuit said Nock went to Jefferson Washington Township Hospital on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017 for right lower back pain that radiated into her right leg. She was discharged after receiving pain medication and a muscle relaxer injection in her upper left arm.

Nock returned to the hospital on Thursday, March 2, 2017 with lower body pain, nausea, and vomiting, her attorneys said. She suffered a heart attack and died the next day.

An autopsy determined Nock from toxic shock syndrome caused by the streptococcus pyogenes bacteria "most likely from an injection to the left upper arm." The suit accused the hospital and doctors of failing to "recognize the urgency of Adrienne Nock’s condition." 

The suit also blamed the hospital and doctors for delaying surgery for Nock and not ordering antibiotics "in a timely fashion."

"Tragically, when her life was on the line, the medical professionals entrusted with her care failed to swiftly act – by immediately performing life-saving surgery – and as a result, she died in what we demonstrated to the jury was a potentially preventable death," attorneys Steve Wigrizer and Jason Weiss said.

"We continue to live this nightmare of unspeakable loss and pray something good can come from the searing pain and suffering that extends well beyond our family and friends, but to all those touched by my lifelong sweetheart, my Adrienne," Nock's husband, Tyrone Nock, said.

The majority of deaths from Streptococcus pyogenes are due to invasive infections and rheumatic heart disease, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Jefferson Health had not responded to Daily Voice's requests for comment as of press time.

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