Fungal cases at UPMC Presbyterian hospital are put focus on lack of transparency in reporting cases of fungus is hospitals, according to an article on the Pittsburg Post-Gazette website.
There are no federal or state laws that require requires hospitals to report fungal infections.
But UPMC only reluctantly told the public about the patient deaths only after word leaked out that they had shut down the ICU on Sept. 3 and transferred its 18 patients elsewhere by Sept. 8, according to the article.
“Hospital administrators are very reluctant to admit that there are molds in their hospitals because of liability issues and worry that people won’t want to go there because they’ve gotten a bad rap,” said Tang Lee, professor of environmental design practice at the University of Calgary, Canada, who has investigated fungal outbreaks in hospitals.
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