Renal Care Shuts Dialysis Unit After Death

Renal Care Group Inc. said that it closed a dialysis unit in Youngstown, Ohio, after a patient undergoing treatment there died and 18 others were hospitalized with chills and fever. The problem occurred Wednesday and is being investigated by local, state and federal authorities, including the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No cause of the symptoms has been determined. Nashville-based Renal Care, which specializes in dialysis, a life-saving procedure in which machines purify the blood of patients with damaged kidneys, said the situation was unique to the Youngstown facility and that none of its other facilities was affected. Renal Care shares fell 88 cents to close at $19.38 on Nasdaq, after trading as low as $14.50 earlier in the day.