VA under scrutiny after Legionnaires' cases in Pittsburgh
Twenty-nine patients at the Veterans Administration hospital in Pittsburgh have been diagnosed with Legionnaires' disease since January 2011, raising questions about the institution's safety practices.
Five of the cases "are known to have acquired the disease from the hospital," the VA said. Another eight were infected elsewhere, and the source of the infection in 16 cases cannot been determined.
The spate of illnesses has led relatives of two veterans who died after contracting the disease, a type of pneumonia, to blame the hospital.
CNN has learned that hospital officials knew they had a problem with the water system as far back as last December, but chose not to reveal that until a month ago.
That's when the hospital began turning off the water in parts of the hospital, staff and patients told CNN.
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Post by: Drew Griffin, Nelli Black Filed under: Special Investigations Unit • Veterans |
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I'm not surprised considering its in PA, and we know who doesn't like Veterans, however I can't see something like that happening, and its not big News. And, I'm hoping its being investigated. Because I was in a place similar in NYC. And they took Veterans for granted, they were leaving there in body bags. I'm assuming that this is top Priority for an investigation, when something like this happens in the VA Hospital, there has to be an explanation someone had to put it there. The Family needs to get lawyers, the Hospital needs to investigate that as well, and the Senate Committee in charge of the VA. When we fail to protect our Veterans, then we fail this country.
That is unfortunate to see these kinds of event since these can be avoided by proper microbial risk assessment and regular monitoring of water systems for biofilm.