Congresswoman wants inquiry into VA hospital

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A congresswoman Wednesday asked the Veteran's Administration for an independent inquiry into its Kansas City hospital, where maggots had infested the noses of two comatose patients.

Hospital officials have said the maggots and an infestation of mice were quickly eradicated after their 1998 occurrence.

But U.S. Rep. Karen McCarthy, D-Kansas City, said in a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony Principi that an independent review was needed to make sure.

The infestation was originally reported Monday in a medical journal, the Archives of Internal Medicine. The story, written by former hospital staff members, said flies attracted by dead mice became trapped in the intensive care unit, where they laid eggs in two patients' noses.

One patient died two days after the maggots were found, but of other causes, the article said.