VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV

[SAMSON123]

VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV

By the CNN Wire Staff
June 30, 2010 10:57 a.m. EDT

VIDEO: http://cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2010/06/30/hiv.veterans.hospital.cnn

Hospital may have exposed vets to HIV

(CNN) -- A Missouri VA hospital is under fire because it may have exposed more than 1,800 veterans to life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis has recently mailed letters to 1,812 veterans telling them they could contract hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after visiting the medical center for dental work, said Rep. Russ Carnahan.

Carnahan said Tuesday he is calling for a investigation into the issue and has sent a letter to President Obama about it.

"This is absolutely unacceptable," said Carnahan, a Democrat from Missouri. "No veteran who has served and risked their life for this great nation should have to worry about their personal safety when receiving much needed healthcare services from a Veterans Administration hospital."

The issue stems from a failure to clean dental instruments properly, the hospital told CNN affiliate KSDK.
KSDK: VA dental patients at risk of infection

Dr. Gina Michael, the association chief of staff at the hospital, told the affiliate that some dental technicians broke protocol by handwashing tools before putting them in cleaning machines.

The instruments were supposed to only be put in the cleaning machines, Michael said.

The handwashing started in February 2009 and went on until March of this year, the hospital told KSDK.
The hospital has set up a special clinic and education centers to help patients who may have been infected. However, Carnahan said he feels more should be done and those responsible should be disciplined.

"I can only imagine the horror and anger our veterans must be feeling after receiving this letter," Carnahan said. "They have every right to be angry. So am I."

This is not the first time this year a hospital has been in hot water for not following proper procedures.

In June, Palomar Hospital in San Diego, California, has sent certified letters to 3,400 patients who underwent colonoscopy and other similar procedures, informing the patients that there may be a potential of infection from items used and reused in the procedures.

[MM2K]

What the hell is this crap? Why dont we just shut down the VA hospitals and just give veterans subsidies so they can go to a private facility?

[gcb]

possibly it's cheaper than sending them to a private hospital - i can really only speculate

[Soul Crusher]

I cabt wait till the govt takes over all of healthcare.    

[24KT]

These types of things occur in private facilities as well, ...they just keep them very hush / hush.
My girlfriends husband is a hospital administrator. If the general public knew of all the mistakes that occurs within hospitals that cause people's conditions to be worse, or even cause death, ...they'd be terrified to even look at a hospital from across the street let alone be admitted to one.

[Soul Crusher]

Veterans Affairs head blasts administration over hospital incident
By Russell Berman - 07/05/10 02:10 PM ET
www.thehill.com


 



The Democratic chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee lambasted the Obama administration over its handling of an incident at a St. Louis VA center in which more than 1,800 veterans were told they may have been exposed to HIV.

“It’s outrageous, one, that this happens, but even worse is this secretive, almost cover-up mode that they go into when something like this happens,” Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) said on CNN Monday.

The Department of Veterans Affairs last month sent a letter to 1,812 patients informing them that they could have been exposed to HIV and other deadly viruses because of dental equipment that was insufficiently sterilized over a period of 13 months. The agency said the risk of infection was “extremely low,” but urged patients to return for blood tests.

Filner criticized the administration for taking more than three months to send out the letters after it discovered the faulty safety precautions in March. “We should be much more caring not only about the procedures but the way we deal with them after they’re known,” the congressman said. He said it was “disgraceful” that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki did not know about the lapse until last week.

Filner said the “only way you can get accountability is if there is someone who actually pays a price for this,” although he did not explicitly call for Shinseki to be fired.

The Veterans Affairs Committee is holding a hearing on the issue next week.