Lawyer for Alabama Nursing Board Hearing – Call today to discuss your case – More than 160 people exposed to ‘superbug’ at UCLA medical center – (866) 348-2889
A “superbug” resistant to antibiotics has infected seven patients at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and may have contributed to the deaths of two of these patients, according to media reports. More than 160 others were exposed to carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae through contaminated medical scopes used during endoscopic procedures that took place at the medical center between October and January. The patients are being offered free home testing kits that would be analyzed at UCLA.
An internal investigation determined that CRE bacteria may have been transmitted during a procedure that uses this specialized scope to diagnose and treat pancreaticobiliary diseases, according to a UCLA Health System news release.
“We notified all patients who had this type of procedure, and we were using seven different scopes,” UCLA spokeswoman Dale Tate said in an ABC News article. “Only two of them were found to be infected. In an abundance of caution, we notified everybody.”