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BOZEMAN n Bozeman Deaconess hospital will deny any wrongdoing in a response to be filed this week to a wrongful death lawsuit involving a patient who died in 2004 of a flesh-eating bacteria infection, a hospital spokeswoman says.

The family of Linda Stewart filed the suit in July, accusing the hospital of negligence in Stewart’s death.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Gallatin County District Court, Stewart went to the hospital with a severe headache Feb. 18, 2004.

A nurse injected Stewart in her right hip with a narcotic painkiller, the lawsuit said. By Feb. 20, Stewart was experiencing severe pain at the site of the injection, and was sent to the hospital’s emergency department by her family physician, Dr. Leonard Ramsey, the lawsuit said.

Stewart underwent treatment and tests at the hospital, but hospital staff failed to identify and treat the infection in time to save her life, the suit said. Stewart died Feb. 21.

The hospital has until Sept. 6 to file a response with the court.

Connie Martin, spokeswoman for the hospital, told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in a story Sunday that the hospital has not yet filed a formal response, but will deny the allegations.

“Privacy laws prevent us from discussing specifics regarding patient care, however we have thoroughly investigated the case and are confident the infection was an isolated incident, was not acquired at our facility and is not related to care received at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital,” Martin said in a written statement.

The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages for Stewart’s death. Attorneys representing Stewart’s family did not respond to a request for comment on the case.

According to Stewart’s obituary, she ran a children’s day-care business from her home.

The lawsuit said Stewart died of necrotizing fasciitis, often referred to as “flesh-eating bacteria,” which was thrust into the spotlight in the 1980s after a rash of highly publicized cases.

It’s an especially virulent form of the common streptococcus bacteria that causes severe sore throats in millions every year. Unlike its more benign cousin, necrotizing fasciitis causes life-threatening infections and can literally eat away a patient’s flesh.

Necrotizing fasciitis is not common n only 500 to 1,500 people nationwide contract the infection every year, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

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