Dirty scopes needlessly infected scores of patients, investigation finds

Scores of hospital patients treated with medical scopes were infected with potentially deadly bacteria because of repeated failures by manufacturers, regulators and hospitals to report outbreaks, according to a U.S. Senate investigation released Wednesday. The investigators said they had found 25 outbreaks — including two in Los Angeles — linked to a device known as a duodenoscope, far more than previously reported. And they said that numerous flaws in the federal government's oversight of medical devices are continuing to put patients at risk "with life-threatening consequences." The new 301-page report confirms conclusions in a series of Times stories last year, which reported that Olympus Corp., the leading maker of the device, knew of the potential flaws in the scope but failed to alert American hospitals or regulators.