Student Death | Attorney: Ryan was wrongly diagnosed

College sophomore Anne Ryan was "unequivocally" misdiagnosed with a viral infection when she visited the emergency room at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania three days prior to her death, the Ryan family attorney said yesterday.

Ryan was admitted to the emergency room on Sept. 6 with symptoms including a high fever, back and neck ache, nausea and difficulty walking.

After receiving a spinal tap that came back negative, Ryan was told she had a viral infection and discharged with an anti-nausea medication, instructions to follow up with Student Health Service and a note saying she could return to class in two days' time, according to the discharge report.

But on Saturday morning, Ryan was so ill she couldn't stand, walk or talk, according to a close friend. SHS directed her back to the HUP emergency room, where she died early Sunday morning.

Both the University and an independent autopsy performed by Delaware's chief medical examiner concluded that Ryan died of meningococcal meningitis, a sometimes fatal bacterial disease that causes inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

The disease affects about 2,800 people each year and has a mortality rate of 10 to 14 percent.

Ryan's family hired Thomas Kline, a lawyer who specializes in personal-injury litigation, to look into her death.

Kline said he has promised to "determine whether a lawsuit should be filed, . whether the appropriate medical standards have been met and also whether the appropriate laboratory tests were performed . accurately and correctly."

Meanwhile, the University is standing by HUP and the doctors who examined Ryan.

"While it is a terrible tragedy, she received timely and appropriate care by a team of highly skilled and experienced physicians," University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said.

"We are surprised that Mr. Kline has expressed any view on her care since he does not yet have the medical records," she added.

But despite his lack of Ryan's medical records, Kline says there "are a number of facts that are clearly established already."

"She was discharged from the emergency room with the wrong diagnosis, she was not given antibiotics, and she was told she was going to be well and that she could report back to class two days later," he said.

Penn has promised to cooperate by providing the medical records. Kline said he has also requested that the University secure and save all materials related to the lab tests that were run on Ryan in order to independently review "the conduct of the physicians involved [and] also the conduct and accuracy of the laboratory."

Though all students are required to be vaccinated, neither the University nor Kline will confirm if Ryan was in fact vaccinated.

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