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Officials Ok With Seattle Hospital's Response To Patient Fire

June 23, 2005

There is no indication that regulations were broken when a patient at Virginia Mason Medical Center was accidentally set on fire, and the hospital's response has been adequate, regulators say.

Gary Bennett, director of facilities and services licensing for the state Health Department, said Tuesday the agency had not cleared the hospital of wrongdoing.

Hospital investigators are satisfied that Virginia Mason acted properly after an electric cauterizer ignited an alcohol-based sterilization solution.

The solution was on the shoulder of a man during efforts to revive him following a severe heart attack in October 2003.

To avoid a recurrence the hospital has switched to a sterilization compound administered by a stick instead of the liquid solution in such procedures.

The state agency began an investigation last month following news reports on an anonymous memorandum that cited the fire and accused the hospital of poor safety standards.

In the report issued Tuesday, investigators wrote that claims made in the memo were unfounded or lacked sufficient evidence to support findings of deficiencies.