NEW YORK TIMES: At least eight people who received treatment at a hospital in York, Pa., have developed an infection from a medical device used during open-heart surgery, hospital and health officials said. Four of those who were infected have died, though officials said it was not clear whether the infection was the primary cause.
WellSpan York Hospital said Monday it was notifying about 1,300 current and former patients of possible exposure to potentially harmful bacteria during open-heart surgeries performed over nearly four years, from Oct. 1, 2011, to July 24, 2015. The hospital said the infection had been identified in less than 1 percent of patients who had open-heart surgery during the period.
The Food and Drug Administration said it had received 32 reports of infected patients or bacterial contaminations associated with the devices, which are used to heat and cool a patient’s blood during heart surgery. Of those, 25 were reported this year. Eight of the reported infections happened in the United States; the rest were contracted in Europe. It was not clear if those American cases were at York Hospital… (more)
