VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV

• Lan wrote on 2010-06-30 22:37

  (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.

  :!!:
  
  Source
• Cannibal wrote on 2010-06-30 22:38
  I'd shoot someone.
• Lan wrote on 2010-06-30 22:41

  Quote from Saani;79904:

  I'd shoot someone.

  
  
  No one could blame you :!!:
• BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2010-06-30 22:50
  idiot nurses cheated through nursing school
• Osayidan wrote on 2010-06-30 22:52
  I heard of this a long time ago but I don't know if it was veterans D:
  Is this recent? If this happened again then there's some pretty damned retarded nurses who deserve to be shot.
• EndlessDreams wrote on 2010-06-30 23:27

  Quote from BobYoMeowMeow;79908:

  idiot nurses cheated through nursing school

  
  
  But this time, it was the stupid dental technicians.
• Piko wrote on 2010-06-30 23:39
  This is what happens when people are brought up and don't learn how to clean up their done.
• Axx wrote on 2010-07-01 01:10
  THEY HANDWASHED THEM FIRST, THEN PUT THEM IN THE CLEANING MACHINE.
  
  HANDWASHED THEM FIRST.
  HANDWASHED, FIRST. THEN PUT INTO MACHINE.
  
  [SIZE=2]So they were still cleaned. Actually, they were cleaned even moreso than they would be normally.
  So someone (a diseased dental technician) would have had to have cut themselves on the tools first (AND, not know they had cut themselves, AND, not know they were HIV or something-other infected while working in a HOSPITAL), and [SIZE=3]then the cleaning machine would have had to not work in the first place.
  [SIZE=2]
  They broke protocol, yeah, but there's no chance that anyone got a disease unless the machine was broken in the first place, and claiming 'infected with HIV' is a sensationalist and fearmongering headline. The democrat who freaked out and overreacted should be shot.
  [/SIZE] [/SIZE][/SIZE]
• OrangeXP wrote on 2010-07-01 05:10
  Another source?
  
  Considering how much the wording changes between articles, the only reason they could be worried is if soap somehow messes up the "enzyme-based" cleaning process, or the process needed the "special detergent".
• EienNoTsubasa wrote on 2010-07-01 16:58
  *facepalm*
  
  Just when I thought people couldn't get any dumber...
• Rime wrote on 2010-07-01 17:11

  Quote from EienNoTsubasa;80261:

  *facepalm*
  
  Just when I thought people couldn't get any dumber...

  
  
  Indeed. People just don't bother to use reading comprehension anymore. With news sources the way they are, this stupidity can become quite dangerous.
• Spartaaaaa wrote on 2010-07-04 19:12
  Wow! This is quite scary.
• Axx wrote on 2010-07-05 02:43

  Quote from Spartaaaaa;82026:

  Wow! This is quite scary.

  
  No, it's not. It's way overblown.