In this Sept. 30, 2013, file photo, Marjorie Norwood, left, poses with her daughter, Melanie Norwood, during an interview in Brentwood, Tenn. The two discussed how Marjorie Norwood contracted fungal meningitis last year after receiving an injection for back pain.NASHVILLE – More than a year after a routine steroid injection turned into a painful fungal infection that nearly killed her, Marjorie Norwood is still suffering physically and emotionally. She also carries a huge stress: the hospital that houses the clinic where she contracted the infection has billed more than half a million dollars for her treatment.
Norwood argues that she should not have to pay Saint Thomas West Hospital for the months of painful treatment and expensive medicines that fought the infection but did not restore her health.
“They made me sick, and they made me come to their hospital to take care of me. And it was their fault that I was there,” she said during a recent interview. “I shouldn’t have had to pay a cent, not a dime.”
In some ways, Norwood is lucky. The same mold-contaminated medicine that was injected into her back killed 64 people around the country. She was one of 750 who were sickened, and her struggle provides a window into the challenges survivors can face while trying to resume their lives.
The 60-year-old says the disease left her with permanent nerve damage. Despite months of therapy, Norwood sometimes slurs her speech. She has a hard time opening things. She can be clumsy. She can’t put her hand behind her head. She sometimes doesn’t remember recent conversations with her daughter.