Discussions in Infection Control

An independent site by Lawrence F Muscarella PhD -- a national authority on the causes and prevention of healthcare-associated infections and related errors.

Category: Patient Notification

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Flash Sterilization Healthcare Quality, Safety Healthcare-Acquired Infections Immediate-Use Steam Sterilization Infection Prevention Patient Notification Sterilization Toxic Anterior Segment Syndrome

Flash or Immediate Use Steam Sterilization (IUSS): A Position Statement

August 22, 2014 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD

This article presents the position of Lawrence F Muscarella, PhD, on the use of “immediate-use steam sterilization” (IUSS), historically known as “flash sterilization,” to process surgical instruments in or near…

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria carbapenem Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) Carbapenems Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Custom Ultrasonics Disease Transmission Endoscope Reprocessing Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Escherichia coli Ethylene Oxide Gas Sterilization Food and Drug Administration Gastrointestinal Endoscopy GI Endoscopes Healthcare-Acquired Infections Hepatitis (B and C) Viruses High-Level Disinfection HIV Infection Prevention Klebsiella pneumoniae Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase]-producing K. pneumoniae Low-Temperature Sterilization Medical Errors Outbreak Investigations Patient Notification Pentax Risk Assessment Risk Management Veterans Health Administration

Lessons Taught by a Recent “Superbug” Outbreak: Could ‘Ex Post Facto’ Notification be Warranted?

January 21, 2014 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD

April 21, 2014 — Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (Park Ridge, IL) in 2013 linked multiple patient infections and colonizations of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or “CRE,” to contaminated gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopes. This…

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) Endoscope Reprocessing Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Glutaraldehyde Instrument Reprocessing Klebsiella pneumoniae Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase]-producing K. pneumoniae Outbreak Investigations Patient Notification Pentax

Response to a Fox News Report about a “Superbug” Outbreak at a Hospital in Illinois, 2013

January 16, 2014 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD

January 16, 2014 — The leading news source Fox News produced the insightful report: “Troubling outbreak of drug-resistant bacteria a growing threat” (January 15, 2014). While this report by Fox…

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Hundreds of Thousands of Device Reports Were Submitted Late to FDA, a New Study Has Found, Raising Safety Questions

May 13, 2025 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD
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Endoscopy Patients at Vanderbilt Potentially Exposed to HIV and Hepatitis, County Officials Have Confirmed

November 26, 2024 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD
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Dr. Muscarella’s Recent Recommendations to Medicare to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Infections

September 16, 2024 Lawrence F Muscarella PhD