More U.S. patients feared at risk of rare brain disease

By Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) – Connecticut said on Friday that two patients who recently underwent surgery at a VA Hospital may have been exposed to a rare brain disease, adding to 13 people already reported at risk in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The potential for exposure is believed to be the result of doctors using the same surgical instruments on several different patients. Those instruments were initially used on a New Hampshire patient, who has since died. …