Surgical Tools Get Hydraulic Wash

Report: N.C. Hospitals Cleaned Instruments With Hydraulic Fluid

(AP)  About 3,800 patients at two hospitals run by Duke University Health System were operated on last year with instruments that were washed in hydraulic fluid instead of detergent, hospital regulators said.

Duke Health Raleigh and Durham Regional hospitals put patients in "immediate jeopardy" in November and December by not detecting the problem, despite complaints from medical staff about slick tools, according to a report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The hospitals did not fix the problem for weeks, said the agency, which oversees patient care at hospitals that receive payments from federal insurance programs.