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In an ominous sign for patient safety, 71% of reusable medical scopes deemed ready for use on patients tested positive for bacteria at three major U.S. hospitals, according to a new study. The paper, published recently in the American Journal of Infection Control, underscores the infection risk posed by a commonly used endoscopes. It signals a lack of progress by manufacturers, hospitals and regulators in reducing contamination despite numerous reports of superbug outbreaks and patient deaths, experts say. "These results are pretty scary," said Janet Haas, president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. "These are very...

on this topic generated plenty of interest (despite the small number of posted comments), so we continue our coverage… Yet another prestigious hospital joins the ranks of those reporting Carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infections, linked to endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) endoscopes. On March 4th, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles discovered that four patients were infected with CRE, and 67 others may have been exposed. Lisa McGiffert, director of the Safe Patient Project at Consumers Union, and a longtime activist regarding hospital-acquired infections, said that “It’s highly likely many hospitals around the country have had outbreaks, and they haven’t been...

EXCLUSIVE: The late comedian went to Yorkville Endoscopy for a routine endoscopy on Aug. 28, but a doctor — who arrived with Rivers' entourage — offered to perform a biopsy after another doctor noticed 'something' on the entertainer's vocal chords, a medical source told the Daily News. The routine surgical procedure Joan Rivers was supposed to undergo turned deadly when a doctor who arrived at the clinic with the legendary comic’s entourage performed an unplanned biopsy on her vocal cords, a medical source who was briefed on the case told The News. Such a procedure is not supposed to be...

Probing colons has never been this much fun. Japanese researchers have developed the world’s first self-propelled endoscopy device, a remote controlled tadpole-like camera that can “swim” through the digestive tack gathering imagery along the way. This kind of endoscopy isn’t wholly new, of course, but previous iterations of ingestible cameras relied on natural muscle contractions to move them through the body. The “Mermaid,” as it is known, simplifies the process by moving quickly through the digestive tract to its destination, whatever that point may be. To speed the process, it can be inserted into the digestive system at either end,...

CDC Says Problems with Hepatitis C at Clinic Could Be 'Tip of an Iceberg' Posted: 11:10 AM Mar 4, 2008 Last Updated: 2:44 PM Mar 4, 2008 Washington (AP) The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says an outbreak of Hepatitis C at a Nevada clinic may represent “the tip of an iceberg” of safety problems at clinics around the country. The City of Las Vegas shut down the Endoscopy center of Southern Nevada last Friday after state health officials determined that six patients had contracted Hepatitis C because of unsafe practices including clinic staff reusing syringes...

LOS ANGELES — The city of Las Vegas has shut down a clinic where up to 40,000 people may have been exposed to hepatitis C and the HIV virus through the reuse of syringes and vials, officials said on Sunday. The clinic at the heart of the scandal, the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, "was served with an emergency suspension of its business license," city authorities said in a statement. Officials are asking about 40,000 people to be tested for hepatitis B and C and HIV because of unsafe medical practices at the clinic. Health authorities launched an investigation into...

I just heard Tony Snow say he has colon cancer.