In Brief: Three Scope Deaths Linked To Huntington Hospital; HHS Awards $36.8 Million For Health Center Constrution, Renovation

Three Scope Deaths Linked To Huntington Hospital

Three deaths have been potentially linked to dirty duodenoscopes used at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena last year.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the contaminated scopes and the deaths were detailed in a report made by the hospital to the Food and Drug Administration. 

Although the patient names were redacted in the report, the Times reported the name of one patient who possibly succumbed:  Azniv Tavidaghian, a 69-year-old patient who was being treated for cancer. She was examined by possibly tainted scopes twice.

Peter Kaufman, an attorney for the Tavidaghian family, criticized Huntington for failing to disclose a connection to the patient deaths and dirty scopes on its own.

Last year, Huntington had reported issues with the scopes but said patients had been sickened by septicemia but had not died. The hospital told the newspaper this week that confusion over patient privacy rules had previously prevented it from publicly reporting deaths, even though Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and other hospitals had previously disclosed that dirty scopes had been linked to patient deaths. 

Huntington has yet to disclose exactly how many patients may have been sickened by dirty scopes.

Altogether, as many as 350 patients at 41 hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the world may have contracted septicemia or other infections due to dirty scopes.

The scopes, manufactured by Olympus Corp., have been redesigned and protocols for sterilizing the equipment between uses have been changed, although the Huntington incidents may have been linked to an older model of the scope. Olympus has since issued new cleaning protocols for that model.

HHS Awards $36.8 Million For Health Center Constrution, Renovation

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has granted $36.8 million to repair, refurbish and build new health centers in California. Altogether, 40 facilities statewide will benefit from the money, officials said.

The funds have been allocated as more patients have been using health centers as the result of coverage expansion connected to the Affordable Care Act. California is projected to treat nealry 160,000 new patients at health centers in the coming years. About 6 million new patients have been added nationwide since 2009, officials said.

HHS had previously awarded $29.5 million in construction grants to 48 health centers in California last year.

“Providing funding to help health centers renovate their facilities will allow them to provide care to more patients,” said Jim Macrae, an acting associate administrator with the Health Resources Services Administration, which oversees facility construction and expansion. “Perhaps more importantly though, health centers will now be able to provide more health services in one location, better meeting the needs of their communities.”