200 MRSA legal actions in Eire

Link: Gardai probe two MRSA deaths - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie.

GARDAI are investigating the deaths of two people from the deadly hospital superbug after formal complaints from relatives of MRSA victims. It can also be revealed that hospitals are facing at least 200 legal actions as a result of MRSA deaths. Pressure to deal with the disease is now mounting, with at least 30 families requesting coroners to hold inquests into the deaths of relatives whom they believe died from MRSA-related causes. Health Minister Mary Harney has now asked hospitals to explain why they are not telling patients they have contracted the superbug MRSA. And she is also seeking an explanation as to why it is not being recorded as the cause of death on official documents such as death certificates. The increase in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus among dialysis patients and a suspected outbreak of infectious bacteria in an infants' ward of a major hospital are some of the disclosures contained in internal hospital documents released to families campaigning against the spread of hospital-acquired infections.