Congressional hearing into Legionnaire’s outbreak raises more questions
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Faulty maintenance and poor management at two Pittsburgh VA hospitals may have contributed to the deaths of five patients from a deadly strain of Legionnaires disease, according to testimony at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday.
Those allegations have politicians, union leaders and families of victims angry about the VA response to the Legionnaires outbreak, which began in 2011.
U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pa., says in a statement that the hearing raised more questions than it answered. Doyle says the VA needs to address the allegations promptly.
Dr. Lauri Hicks, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said 29 of 44 samples collected by the CDC last November showed Legionella bacteria.
A VA spokesperson said Wednesday that they have no new comments.