Another outbreak from tainted scopes suspected at an L.A.-area hospital

A Pasadena hospital is investigating a suspected outbreak related to the same type of medical scope tied to superbug infections across the country. Huntington Memorial Hospital said Wednesday it had alerted health authorities about a potential link between patients who have a pseudomonas bacteria and the Olympus Corp. duodenoscopes used to treat them. Many forms of deadly bacteria can become trapped inside the reusable devices and get passed on to future patients. Federal regulators have attributed this to a design flaw that makes the tip of these instruments hard to clean even when following the manufacturers' guidelines.