(St. Louis, MO) County Executive Buzz Westfall Dies

KSDK St. Louis Newschannel 5 ^ | October 27, 2003 | KSDK St. Louis Newschannel 5

[El Conservador]

(KSDK) -- St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall has died. He died after a three-week battle with a staph infection. Since entering the hospital, friends and colleagues continued to pray for Westfall’s recovery, but his condition was described as grave over the weekend.

While Westfall’s family is now withholding all medical information, it was learned that Westfall was taken off a ventilator last Friday.

He died at Christian Northeast Hospital at 4:46 p.m. Monday.

The 59-year-old Westfall was admitted on October 5 for back pain. Doctors later diagnosed him with an infection in his spine caused by staph bacteria.

During his treatment, doctors put Westfall in a drug-induced coma. Sources say his condition deteriorated in recent days.

Donald Kennedy, M.D. is a Professor of Internal Medicine in Infectious Diseases at Saint Louis University.

He would not comment on Westfall's condition, but, he says staph bacteria is everywhere and that we live with it everyday.

When the skin is punctured or broken, staph bacteria can enter the wound and cause infection.

He says some staph infections are more serious than others, but all staph infections can be treated, "we see serious staphylococcal infections here including of the spine, and of the brain, and of heart valves. We do have very effective therapy for most bacterial infectious diseases including staphylococcal. So, management of them centers around identifying where they are and a decision of whether surgical intervention as well as medical therapy is necessary for that particular infection."

Westfall has been County Executive since 1990. Democrat Charles Dooley is serving as acting County Executive during Westfall's absence. His Career George "Buzz" Westfall spent a quarter century serving the citizens of St. Louis County, first as a prosecutor and later as county executive.

In 1978 Westfall, a virtual unknown was elected prosecuting attorney. Two months later he brought his whole family to the swearing in ceremony. It wasn't long before the young prosecutor let everyone know who he was and what he thought about drug dealers. "My office would like go after some bigger pushers,” he said at a press conference in 1978.

In 1990, Westfall's views on the Dennis Bulloch murder case got him in hot water and he was threatened with a suspension.

Buzz brushed off the incident and decided to run for county executive that year against Republican H.C. Milford. He beat Milford and ended the Republicans 28-year hold on the top job in St. Louis County.

In his first term, the new county executive led the way for tightened security at the courthouse after a shooting spree in the building in 1992. Westfall joined fellow democrats and the city of St. Louis in the drive to bring the Los Angeles Rams and the NFL back to town in 1995.

Buzz made a suggestion to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. "I said, would he reconsider the schedule and have us play the phoenix Cardinals,” said Westfall.

In his 4th term, Westfall's last big project was the joint campaign with Governor Bob Holden, business and labor leaders and Hazelwood city officials to save the ford motor company plant from being shutdown.

Buzz was proud of the fact that he lived all but one year of his life in St. Louis.

He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Laurie, a daughter, two sons and a granddaughter.

Hosptilization Westfall has a history of back problems and had been complaining of back pain before being admitted to Christian Hospital Northeast on October 5th.

Doctors later traced the pain to an infection caused by staph bacteria. Doctors stated Westfall had the staph infection before entering the hospital. The particular strain of staph he was infected with was very virulent.

Westfall had been listed in critical condition for several days, before being upgraded to serious condition.

During the course of his treatment, doctors put Westfall in a drug-induced coma to help him recover. But early last week, his condition deteriorated, then over the weekend, his condition was listed as grave.

Very little information regarding Westfall's health had been released. In fact, Westfall's illness came as a surprise even to those on the St. Louis County Council.

Several members first learned Westfall was sick five days after he entered the hospital.

[El Conservador]

Prayers go to his family...

[SAJ]

Prayers to his family, fine, but anyone who considers that he was -- IN ANY SENSE -- a public ''servant'', is inhaling a whole lot of THC and possibly even crack cocaine.

I cheer for NO man's death, but Westfall was a pompous and arrogant executor of the assorted Lefty and Union agenda. May have been a nice chap, but publicly and politically, the man was filth.

The only lesson to be learned here is -- bad back, surgeon required: get it done on an outpatient basis.

My father died from a staph infection contracted in the very same hospital that Westfall did.

Learn the lesson, my good FReeper friends!

[El Conservador]

ping

[RichardW]

My goodness gracious. I used to live in St. Louis County and he was a giant among politicians. Terrible loss.

This staph problem is getting out of control. This ought to get the attention of everyone before we have a full blown epidemic of these cases.

Terrible, terrible.

[Peace will be here soon]

Yes, prayers to his family.

[StarCMC]

I had heard that he had gotten the staph infection through the injections he got in his back for his pain before he entered the hospital. I did not like Westfall's politics or his agendas, but my prayers go out for his family who loved him.

[Hank Rearden]

I used to live in St. Louis County and he was a giant among politicians. Terrible loss.

Losing a politician is never a "terrible loss". A "giant among politicians" is a pygmy among men.

[Tall_Texan]

I'm immediately suspicious of any grown man who still goes by schoolyard names like "Buzz", "Chip", "Skip", "Booger", etc. Time to move on with life, guys...

[neverdem]

Please be advised that Staphylococcus Aureus and a couple of other species of "Staph" are most likely all around and upon everyone since time immemorial, even up your noses. Every now and then, these bacteria get through a break in the skin in sufficient numbers and cause really nasty infections including fatal ones.

There are a few steps that if everyone observed the problem would be less severe.

First is adequate cleaning of all wounds. The problem here is that many wounds are ignored or not even noticed for a variety of reasons.

The next two are inter-related between patients and doctors and involve the inadeqate use or overuse of antibiotics, which in their most common usage are actually antibacterial drugs.

An infection can be caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. When a doctor gives an antibacterial drug like penicillin for an common cold or sore throat caused by a virus, it fosters drug resistance to penicillin in all the other bacteria that are colonizing that person who has a normal immune system , as well as nothing to fight the viral infection. This happens most commonly when a patient demands an antibiotic and the doctor acquiesces either for he/she doesn't have time to explain to the patient or fear of losing a patient with good insurance. The other most common reason for developing drug resistance is that a patient stops taking an appropriately prescribed drug because the patient is feeling sufficiently better before the infecting organism is completely killed off.

Drug resistance is inevitable with the use of antibiotics and has to be limited to appropriate infections. Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus(MRSA) has evolved because of this phenomena. Methicillin is a semi-synthetic penicillin, i.e. it was derived from penicllin. It is a very commonly acquired organism in hospitalized patients who have intravenous(IV) catheters. If infected with MRSA, the patient is treated with Vancomycin which is totally unrelated to the penicillin class of antibiotics and is reserved for the most severe infections. Every hospital probably has MRSA coating its surfaces somewhere. The only way to suppress MRSA is adequate disinfectant application, adequate hand washing by medical and nursing staff, and changing IV lines and access sites every 72 hours, IIRC.

I hope I didn't bore you or lose you.

[SAJ]

Not at all, many thanks for the info.

Am unfamiliar with the specifics in Westfall's case, but I know my father's case all too well. Broke his leg seriously (3 fractures, 2 simple, 1 compound), was in a hip-length cast for upwards of 3 months. For reasons known to no one, the doctors did NOT remove and reset the cast at all during this period. Unlucky, because he picked up SA under the cast somehow, and in that nice warm moist growing environment, it prospered far too thoroughly.

I'm no bloody MD, but when I wore a hip-length cast back in 1972 for a similar (but not nearly as serious) fracture, and had it for a total of 5 months, it was cracked open and reset TWICE...and the stated reason for doing so was exactly to check for possible infection. Made sense to me at the time, so what's changed? As you may readily imagine, I and my sister are absolutely furious with these clowns. This was a COMPLETELY preventable result, no second-guessing required.

[neverdem]

You have my sincere condolences regarding your father. I don't know how long ago this happened, and I don't what the statute of limitations regarding malpractice are where this happened. But if there was an obvious change in vital signs, especially spike of fever and they didn't almost simultaneously crack open the cast and obtain blood and urine cultures as well as chest X-ray ASAP, there might be grounds for malpractice. A had an adverse drug reaction happen to me that was missed by Army docs. It screwed up my career. I hope this doesn't open up old wounds but I hate malpractice.

[SAJ]

We considered a civil action for a while, but my distaste for malpractice (as currently constituted at ''law'') actions made the prospect unattractive even if successful. My sister was on top of all the medical data (sharp lady, btw) and she didn't learn, or at least didn't relate to me, anything particularly egregious. I never did manage to get a straight answer about why the cast was never reset.

Reluctantly filed under ''shjt happens'', but it rankles like hell.

[mountaineer]

Mr. Westfall was my boss, both as prosecuting attorney (I was an assistant P.A. in his office) and as county executive. I knew him only as a decent man, a good leader and fine prosecutor. Having moved from St. Louis early in his county executive tenure, I can't comment on his performance or politics in that capacity, but to the extent I knew him, I respected him and will mourn his passing.

[Missouri]

St. Louis area ping.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

In the last few years, Westfall and his union friends on the County Council have made doing business in St. Louis County a nightmare. We have a heating & cooling business and now need permits for the most basic and simple repairs and are required to have journeyman workers for very simple work. It has gotten to the point that many municipalities are overriding the county codes with their own simpler ones.

I sympathize with his family and I'm sorry for their loss.

[Missouri]

St. Louis County has no doubt moved to the left and I see nothing that will change this. Anyway possible to squeeze money out of the taxpayer the politicians here will try to do it. It was one of the few counties in Mo. that went for Gore in 2000. ( BTW, Jeff. County was another).

I just hope the next County Supervisor will not be so gun-ho about using public money for a downtown ballpark.

[El Conservador]

It depends on which areas of the county you're talking about.

North and South County are union hotbeds, and the precincts in those areas will vote D.

Mid-county (Clayton, Ladue, Richmond Heights, Brentwood and Frontenac) is evenly split R-D (lot of Democrat elitists around)

West County is solidly R.

[Missouri]

It depends on which areas of the county you're talking about.

No doubt but as a whole it will go for a democrat in a county wide election from now on. Jim Talent couldn't carry St. Louis County in 2000 or 2002 and thats where he lives. Republicans are going to have to depend on St. Charles County and rural Missouri to carry the day for them.

West County is solidly R

Maybe Republican but its a Country Club Republican area. Right-to-Carry didn't do very well there in 1999. To many soccer moms I guess.

[TheEngineer]

Didn't really know anything about him... except that he was a member of the baby killing, class warfare, socialist party.

I wonder if the democrats are going to hold a political rally at his funeral?

After all, the death of a democrat politician can't pass without it being milked for all the political gain they can get.