M.N. v MultiCare Health System, Inc.

In parts of 2017 and 2018, a nurse working in the emergency department of the Puyallup Good Samaritan Hospital diverted injectable narcotics for personal use. In 2018, after learning that two patients treated at the emergency department tested positive for hepatitis C, MultiCare and public health officials investigated and determined that a small number (probably 12) patients had contracted hepatitis C from the nurse. These patients aren't part of this lawsuit. In 2018, the Plaintiffs representing the classes filed this lawsuit on behalf of themselves and similarly situated patients. They asserted claims for medical negligence and corporate negligence and sought damages for the emotional distress they had suffered after learning of the hepatitis C outbreak at the Hospital.

If you already received the class notice and did not exercise the option to exclude yourself at that time, you are likely a settlement class member. Under the proposed settlement, a settlement class member is defined as member of the Weberg Treatment Class or the General Treatment Class. You're a member of the Weberg Treatment Class if you were treated at the Puyallup Good Samaritan Hospital between August 4, 2017, and March 23, 2018, received care from Cora Weberg (the nurse who diverted drugs), and received Notification Letters in April 2018 from MultiCare. You're a member of the General Treatment Class if you were treated at the Puyallup Good Samaritan Hospital between August 4, 2017, and March 23, 2018, and received Notification Letters in April 2018 from MultiCare, but didn't receive care directly from Cora Weberg. To be a member of either of these classes, and to receive payment from the proposed settlement, you do not need to have retained a copy of the Notification Letter you received in April 2018.

To be a member of either of these classes, and to receive payment from the proposed settlement, you do not need to have retained a copy of the Notification Letter you received in April 2018.

Under the proposed settlement, MultiCare will pay $4 million into a settlement fund. The settlement fund will be used to pay class members after deducting administrative costs, attorneys' fees and expenses, service awards for the people who represented the classes, taxes and tax expenses, and any other Court-approved deductions. Our current estimate of the payment for each class member is $830, but keep in mind that's just an estimate.

Yes! The estates or beneficiaries of deceased settlement class members may still receive the payment from the Settlement Fund—we just need sufficient evidence that any payment will be going to the right persons.

For a deceased class member, the personal representative, administrator, or executor of the deceased class member's estate may submit a copy of letters testamentary or letters of administration, or other suitable evidence that the person submitting the claim represents the class member's estate. That documentation may be emailed to MulticareHealthSettlement@cptgroup.com or mailed to M.N. v. MultiCare Health System, Inc., c/o CPT Group, Inc., PO Box 19504, Irvine, CA 92623.

Please be sure to include the deceased class member's name, CPT ID, and Passcode in your email or mail.

If the deceased class member doesn't have a personal representative, administrator, executor, or the like, then the beneficiaries of deceased class member may still submit a claim. We need to make sure that any payment will actually go to the people who are entitled to it, so we will need sufficient evidence that the claim is being submitted by all the true beneficiaries of the deceased class member.

Such evidence could include a decree of distribution at the closing of an estate or the copy of a will admitted to probate. If you have questions about whether a particular document qualifies as sufficient evidence, you should email MulticareHealthSettlement@cptgroup.com.

Please be sure to include the deceased class member's name, CPT ID, and Passcode in your email or mail.