LOS ANGELES — An 18-year-old student is struggling to survive after he was infected by a “superbug” outbreak tied to contaminated medical instruments at a Los Angeles hospital, his attorney said.

The young man has spent nearly three months in the hospital and is in grave condition after contracting a potentially lethal, antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, attorney Kevin Boyle said Thursday.

He had entered the hospital for a procedure that involved using an endoscope to examine his pancreas.

“They were scoping it out, trying to see what was the matter,” Boyle said. “He had no life-threatening condition before like he does now.”

At least seven people — two of whom died — have been infected with the bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, after undergoing similar endoscopic procedures between October and January. More than 170 other patients also may have been exposed, hospital officials said.