Pinellas jail inmate died from MRSA infection

An autopsy of Dorothy Dian Palinchik, a Pinellas County Jail inmate who died in February, has pinpointed her cause of death as severe pneumonia brought on by a massive MRSA infection.

"If she wasn't massively infected, she'd be alive right now," Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin said today. "It's like saying if not for the gunshot wound to the head this person would be alive. It's that absolute."

But the autopsy could not determine whether Palinchik, 42, contracted the MRSA infection at the jail or was already infected when she was booked on Feb. 13, Thogmartin said.

Over than being slightly overweight and having a little coronary artery disease, the autopsy found that Palinchik had no health problems not caused by the MRSA infection, Thogmartin said.

MRSA is a problem in crowded places with questionable sanitation, including jails, hospitals, schools and nursing homes. About 1 percent of the population has staph bacteria that are resistant to certain kinds of antibiotics. That's where MRSA gets its name: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Palinchik was charged with stealing a $9 Philly cheesesteak sandwich from a Publix in St. Petersburg. Her bail was set at $250, but she didn't pay it. Boyfriend Michael Mullican said he offered, but Palinchik said she would rather do her time and get it over with.

Palinchik did not complain of not feeling well and did not have any visible open wounds at the time she was booked, according to a report from a forensic investigator with the medical examiner's office. Three days later, on Feb. 16, she complained of not feeling well.

By Feb., 17 she had a fever of 101.5 degrees, according to Mullican, who visited her five days later on Feb. 21. The jail staff had given her only a Motrin and a Sudafed, Mullican said she told him.

"Michael, I've never been this sick in my life," Mullican quoted Palinchik as saying. She could barely lift her head and after two or three minutes, she had to lie down.

Mullican said he complained to the staff at the jail about Palinchik's condition and was brushed off by hostile guards.

The next day, Feb. 22, Palinchik was admitted to the jail's infirmary. There, the staff soon decided she should go to the hospital and called 911, according to the medical examiner's office.

An ambulance brought Palinchik to Largo Medical Center, where she was admitted at 11 p.m. and diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs and MRSA. The next morning, she was put on a breathing tube. For almost a week, doctors fought her infection and the pneumonia that had taken over her lungs. She was kept on a ventilator. Her pulse raced above 150. Her hands and feet turned dark blue and black.

Doctors told the family to consider amputation, then told them that even amputation wouldn’t save her.

On Feb. 28, Palinchik died.

Her family has hired attorney Mark Buell with the intent of suing the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office for providing inadequate medical care.

The Sheriff's Office has said it is investigating the care Palinchik received at the jail and the circumstances surrounding her death.

Jonathan Abel, Times staff writer