11 deaths at Huntington Hospital were patients infected by dirty duodenoscopes

Editor's Note

An investigation by the Pasadena Public Health Department, Pasadena, California, into the outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial infections from duodenoscopes found that 16 patients at Huntington Hospital were infected from January 2013 to August 2015, including 11 who have now died, the June 1 Los Angeles Times reports.

Only one of the 11 death certificates listed the bacteria as the cause, and the hospital had previously said just three patients were infected in the outbreak that officials said was limited to the middle of 2015.

A PPHD report released June 1 blamed the design of the duodenoscope and the hospital for lapses in infection control.

Pasadena health officials said Wednesday that 16 patients were infected by dangerous bacteria from medical scopes at Huntington Hospital from January 2013 to August 2015, including 11 who have died. It is not clear how many of those patients died from their infections.