NEW ORLEANS — The parents of a St. Bernard Parish man whose death in 2011 was linked to a rare brain-eating amoeba have settled their lawsuit against the manufacturers of two household devices that they blamed for their son's deadly infection.
Settlement terms weren't disclosed in a federal judge's order that dismissed the wrongful death suit on Oct. 15.
Last year, Jeffrey Cusimano's parents sued NeilMed Pharmaceuticals Inc., maker of a "neti pot" that the 28-year-old used to clean his sinuses with water. They also sued Rheem Manufacturing Co., which made a water heater in his home.
Their suit claims defects in both devices allowed Cusimano to become infected by Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic organism that recently was found in St. Bernard Parish's water system.
State health officials linked the same amoeba to the August 2013 death of a 4-year-old boy from Mississippi who was visiting a home in St. Bernard Parish. Test results from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that Naegleria fowleri was found in the water supplies in St. Bernard Parish and part of DeSoto Parish, where the amoeba also caused the death of a 51-year-old woman in 2011.
A total of 32 infections linked to the amoeba were reported in the U.S. between 2001 and 2010.