No charges filed in outbreak at Pa. VA hospital

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Federal authorities in Pittsburgh say no criminal charges will be filed in connection with an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that killed five patients at a VA hospital.

U.S. Attorney David Hickton said today that investigators found no evidence of obstruction or false statements by Veterans Affairs officials or employees.

He says the nine-month probe included 30 interviews and analysis of more than 250,000 emails and other documents.

At least five patients died and 21 were sickened from water that wasn’t properly treated at the facility in the city’s Oakland section between February 2011 and November 2012.

A hospital spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.