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SEATTLE (AP) — A U.S. Senate committee report finds that at least 250 people were sickened with life-threatening "superbug" infections linked to contaminated medical scopes in the past three years.
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration reported that the medical devices from Olympus Corp. and other manufacturers were linked to 142 patient infections.
The new report found that at least 25 outbreaks of patient infections tied to the specialized devices called duodenoscopes sickened people in four countries and 10 states between 2012 and early 2015.
The latest report from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions was commissioned by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee's ranking member.
Murray called for the review last January following the outbreak of antibiotic-resistant infections tied to the medical devices at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.
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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
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