Local Issues
The Food and Drug Administration, already under fire for its response to superbug outbreaks at U.S. hospitals, has tried and failed twice to get medical scope manufacturers to prove their controversial devices can be cleaned of deadly bacteria.
The embattled agency said Monday that it didn't request the information until spring 2014 — despite earlier warnings about tainted scopes — and that it has given device makers three chances to validate their cleaning protocols.
Those new disclosures drew immediate criticism from a federal lawmaker and some consumer advocates.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) held his district swearing-in ceremony Sunday at Royce Hall, where he called for comprehensive immigration reform, support for homeless veterans and action on climate change.
About 900 people, including government officials and residents of the district, gathered to watch Lieu take his oath of office.
Lieu represents the congressional district that includes UCLA and Westwood. He won an election to the House of Representatives in November, defeating Republican Elan Carr and replacing Henry Waxman, who represented the district for 40 years.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D | CA-33) made the following statement in response to a report issued by the Concerned Veterans of America (CVA) calling for the privatization of veterans' care in America. The CVA is a partisan political organization largely funded by Charles and David Koch.
WASHINGTON, D.C - Today, Rep. Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles) released the following statement on the death of actor Leonard Nimoy. Mr. Nimoy died earlier today at his home in Bel Air, California. He was 83.
Last week, UCLA Medical Center notified 179 patients that it had potentially exposed them to a fearsome "superbug," and urged them to get tested.
The hospital accidentally infected seven people in procedures involving specialized endoscopes, called duodenoscopes, that proved difficult to thoroughly clean. Two of the people died.
On Sunday, February 15, a pre-opening Open House at Anam Cara invited guests to visit and tour the progress of the tiny, six-bed hospice—two at full price (comparable to board and care homes in the area), two at an adjusted rate and two community beds free of charge—that will accommodate terminal patients (up to a two-month prognosis) and their families.
A California congressman wants answers from the Food and Drug Administration in the wake of superbug infections at a local hospital now linked to contaminated medical scopes.
John Allen, a gastroenterologist and the clinical chief of digestive diseases at Yale School of Medicine, said he witnessed the bacterial infections from the same type of intestinal medical scopes in Minnesota back in 1987, according to CNN.
Dr. John Allen, a gastroenterologist, had to morph into a detective when 10 of his patients came down with the exact same type of rare bacterial infection. Alarmed and mystified, he and his colleagues rushed to find the source of the highly lethal superbug.
The culprit, it turned out, was in his own office: a device called a duodenoscope used to check out tiny ducts in the intestinal tract.
The pseudomonas bacteria had somehow evaded the standard cleaning process, and it infected one patient after another.
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, called Monday for a congressional hearing on the potentially deadly "superbug" outbreaks that have been linked to contaminated medical scopes and caused at least seven infections, and two deaths, at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
At UCLA, health officials have notified 179 patients who underwent endoscopic procedures using duodenoscopes at the hospital between October and January that they may have been exposed to the bacteria known as CRE.
Sen. Ted Lieu, D-Manhattan Beach, called Monday for a congressional hearing on the potentially deadly "superbug" outbreaks that have been linked to contaminated medical scopes and caused at least seven infections, and two deaths, at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
At UCLA, health officials have notified 179 patients who underwent endoscopic procedures using duodenoscopes at the hospital between October and January that they may have been exposed to the bacteria known as CRE.