Pennsylvania : Bacteria that killed 3 infants traced to hospital equipment

"We would like to extend our sincere apologies to the families who have been affected by this incident. We know that the public holds us to the highest standards, and we will continue to strive to live up to those expectations as we have throughout our history, constantly improving on what we do and how we do it," Hartle said.

The parents of one of the newborns who died at Geisinger filed suit last month, alleging that hospital officials failed to protect their son from the lethal bacterial infection that had already killed two other premature babies.

Their attorney, Matt Casey - who also represents the family of the second baby who died in the bacterial outbreak - said his investigation has revealed earlier Pseudomonas infections in the Geisinger NICU, and at least one baby died. But he said he does not yet know whether those earlier infections were the result of a problem with the hospital's breast milk equipment.

"A key aspect is to determine whether this was an ongoing problem there. We now have additional work to determine whether these infection control procedures were deficient for a period of time longer than Geisinger's statement suggests," he said.

A hospital spokesman declined comment on Casey's contention about the earlier infections, citing the pending lawsuit.

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