Sincerely,
Eliot Hillel Lewis, Esquire
Pomerantz Perlberger & Lewis LLP
Suite 700, 21 S 12th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107
1-800-DAMAGES**
215-569-8866 ext 104
FAX# 215-568-6511  
ehl@pomerantzperlberger.com
www.pomerantzperlberger.com
**800 number available solely in Philadelphia and suburbs, the Lehigh Valley, Southern New Jersey and Northern Delaware.

Sandy Coyle was one of five closely knit brothers and sisters. She was a loving daughter, lived with her mom and was proud of all of her nieces and nephews. She worked as a nurse’s aid at a Philadelphia neighborhood hospital. On Saturday, 9/21/2002, Sandy called her sister Dee asking to be picked up from work. She was crying, in a lot of pain, had a fever, and had been throwing up. Her sister saw that Sandy was quivering in a lot of pain. Her brother Chuck took Sandy to the emergency room that night around 9:30 PM. She complained of pain in her backside and vaginal itching. The doctor noted a sore on her buttocks, said he was concerned about external hemorrhoids and commented that there was frontal area swelling. There was no internal exam or probing of the area. The ER doctor diagnosed a yeast infection and prescribed a cream and pill. He gave instructions to see her family doctor on Tuesday. Sandy had an impending sense of her own doom and told Chuck she didn’t think she would get to a family wedding only weeks away.

Sandy stayed in her home lying on the couch all day Sunday, 9/22/2002. Her mom, Dolores, said that looking at her buttocks was like looking at a film of jelly with black spots. Her pain was so severe that she kept saying she wanted to die. On Monday morning, 9/23/2002, Sandy’s sister Mary took her to the family physician. Mary noticed a severe odor coming from her sister that remained in the car all day. Other patients in the doctor's waiting room noticed the odor. Sandy told the family doctor of the ER visit where she was told she had a yeast infection. Sandy refused to sit on the exam table because of the severe pain in her bottom. The doctor did a cursory exam and did not note the odor or the area of macerated skin on the left buttock that was noted in the ER. The doctor said Sandy had hemorrhoids and a yeast infection, prescribed Tylenol #3, and sent her home with a note to return to work on Wednesday.

That evening Sandy was found unconscious in her bathtub. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital. The record of the physical exam noted her “vulva completely gangrenous and foul smelling” and “both lower extremities mottled to hip.” She coded at 7:40 PM, could not be resuscitated and was declared dead at 8:15 PM. An autopsy showed a severe infection with heavy growth of mixed bacteria, and noted necrosis of the perineal fascia, perianal tissue, muscles of the pelvis and soft tissue of the thighs, labia, vulva, and inferior buttocks. The autopsy found “Necrotizing Fasciitis” (the flesh-eating bacteria) as the cause of Sandy’s death. She is missed by her family.