A medical-malpractice lawsuit filed Sept. 9 in Multnomah County alleges that a missed Strongyloides stercoralis infection became life-threatening after a Gresham patient received immune-suppressing treatment. Alemtsehay Temesgen is seeking $17.5 million from Legacy Health and physician Annie Hung, M.D.; the allegations have not been proven in court. The Oregonian/OregonLive reported the filing.
The complaint says Temesgen was treated at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in October 2024 for symptoms including weakness, dizziness, heart palpitations, shortness of breath and an itchy rash. It alleges that her daughter asked whether she should be tested for roundworm before treatment and that the request was declined. The lawsuit says Temesgen was diagnosed with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia and discharged with prednisone and rituximab, medications that suppress immune activity. These details come from the complaint as described in the news report, not from a court finding.
Why the parasite matters before steroids
Strongyloides can remain asymptomatic or chronic, but immune suppression can allow the parasite's larvae to spread beyond the intestine. The CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases journal identifies corticosteroid exposure, HTLV-1 co-infection and solid-organ transplantation as risk factors for hyperinfection syndrome. CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases describes the disseminated infection as potentially life-threatening, especially in immunocompromised patients.
The lawsuit alleges that Temesgen developed septic shock about two months after the hospital treatment and later required prolonged respiratory support. It says doctors at Providence Portland Medical Center found roundworm larvae in fluid from her lungs. Her attorney has said she continues to have severe disability. Whether the earlier care met the applicable medical standard, and whether earlier testing or treatment would have changed the outcome, remain disputed questions for the litigation.
Clinical guidance recommends considering Strongyloides risk in people from endemic tropical or subtropical regions before corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive therapy. Testing can be complicated: a CDC-published case report documented negative stool testing alongside positive Strongyloides antibody testing in the same patient. The report says serologic testing should not delay treatment and that presumptive ivermectin may be considered for some high-risk patients who require corticosteroids; it does not determine what should have happened in Temesgen's case. Published screening guidance likewise addresses populations and clinical risk, not the legal merits of an individual claim.
A documented comparison, not a trend
The Oregon lawsuit also resembles a separate case reported by CDC in July 2022. In that report, a 63-year-old man originally from Cambodia developed Strongyloides hyperinfection after corticosteroid treatment for COVID-19 at a California hospital. The comparison is limited: it involved a different patient, illness and treatment setting, and it does not establish that missed screening caused the Oregon patient's deterioration. It does show why an infection acquired years earlier can become relevant when immune defenses are reduced. CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases cites an estimate that strongyloidiasis affects approximately 613.8 million people worldwide, but the examples do not demonstrate that cases are increasing.
Legacy Health describes Mount Hood Medical Center as a full-service community hospital serving the Gresham area and lists an infectious-disease clinic whose services include tropical diseases and infections in people with weakened immune systems. Those services provide local-care context but say nothing about whether the hospital or Dr. Hung acted negligently in Temesgen's treatment. Legacy Health describes the hospital, and its infectious-disease clinic page lists its areas of care.
The complaint requests $2.5 million for past medical expenses, $5 million for anticipated future costs and $10 million for pain and suffering. Legacy Health declined to comment on the pending case, according to the report. The lawsuit now turns on medical expert testimony, the details of Temesgen's records and whether the defendants' decisions fell below the standard of care; none of those issues has been resolved by the filing itself.
