US officials said 40,000 people may have been infected with HIV and hepatitis in a major health scare after a Las Vegas clinic was found to have re-used syringes and medicine vials.
Authorities in southern Nevada said they were notifying some 40,000 patients who received anesthesia injections at the clinic’s endoscopy center between March 2004 and January 11, 2008 about potential exposure to hepatitis and HIV.
After an investigation, “the health district determined that unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients,” it said.
“The joint investigation identified the re-use of syringes (not needles) and the use of single dose vials of anesthesia medication on multiple patients as the potential sources of contamination.”
Action has since been taken by the clinic to end such practices.
We do get the best health care in the world even if it’s expensive. Right?
The World Health Organization has ranked the US #37 in quality of health care.
Chile, Dominica, Costa Rica, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Portugal are ranked higher.
France is #1.
Enjoy watching the end of the American Empire.
Every “syringe” I have seen in a clinic setting has used “single use dosages” meaning the needle and the medication is used once and thrown away leaving the syringe/applicator completely free of contamination absent blood splatters or whatever.
This article needs further explanation on this point. Further, I wonder how many diseases have been transfered? If there was a real contamination issue, Hepatitis rates would be way up and all other blood born illnesses too.
Where’s that BS meter? On the subtext issue though- – – yea- – -does seem like “our system” is not set up to provide service nor even to provide an even playing ground for competitors to win by excelling===rather, under the repugs and politicians in general, we seen to have a system set up to reward those who are willing to cheat, if they cheat big.
And still–idiots will argue for “deregulation” because of all the excellent examples of success it provides. Charlatans all.
This story just came over the radio. Let’s shoot the bastards who are responsible for this along with their entire families with HIV and Hep C. That seems like a reasonable punishment for putting over 40,000 at risk
With all the restaurant workers, not to mention the sex industry, this could be a disaster.
#2 nailed it.
My 1st thought was where is the hep outbreak?
#1
The WHO also gave points to countries on whether or not their government provided health care for every man, woman, and child in their borders. That has nothing to do with quality of health care…but it’s in the criteria for their rankings anyway (as of this last year).
40,000 at risk. At risk?
I read today (wrote it myself) that 29 million, yes Million, US citizens were at risk of getting frostbite last week. Where’s the outrage??
“Action has since been taken by the clinic to end such practices.”
How about “Action has been taken by the patients to end such a clinic.” ?
#1 “France is #1.”
Not for long. I used to run a business there. Not anymore. Too hard to be profitable. Can’t fire staff who won’t work, excessive regulations, etc. Takes a lot of money to run that health care system. That in turn takes a lot of employment that pays well…
#5, patrick,
In a city the size of Las Vegas, 40,000 would not be easily noticeable. This took place over several years so there would not necessarily be a large spike. There are more than that many people moving to the Las Vegas area every year.
Second, some diseases take some time before becoming chronic and noticed by the patient. Then there are some where the patient lives with it for years before becoming aware they are infected.
#8, Olo,
I read today (wrote it myself) that 29 million, yes Million, US citizens were at risk of getting frostbite last week. Where’s the outrage??
What a funny guy. The reuse of syringes can possibly claim a life. Each recipient should be the only user and would rightly believe they are.
Frostbite? Ya right. Except for those who must live outside, such as those homeless Bill O’Rielly and George Bush don’t think exist, everyone has the option of allaying the danger of frostbite by dressing warmly or not being outside long.
#10 patrick,
Yup. Blame your business failures on the employees. After all, no one else is capable of running a profitable business in France.
#2, bobbo:
Apparently you’ve never heard of reusable syringes that have to be sterilized after each use. Fairly common for places that want to save a buck, and in the third-world.
Hmm, what does that say about the quality of health care in the US?
Holy Fuck. I think you would get better medical care in Soviet Russia.
#10, patrick;
Have anything besides anecdotal evidence to back you hypotheses up?
#8;
At least with frostbite, most people have control over how to defend against it.
How can you guarantee your choice of medical practice sterilizes equipment properly?
#7, Calin;
You can have the best health care in the world, but it would be a shitty system if it was only available to the wealthiest people.
#12–Nate==yes, there are syringes that in normal use do not need to be sterilized, and use once syringes that can be used again if sterilized between each use. Most clinics stopped using the latter many years ago. I also assume those that use them have an autoclave to routinely sterilize all contaminated equipment?
So, rather than make a sensational headline devoid of relevant facts==just what is this climic’s infection rate? We don’t know, so this is a nothing issue.
Most likely place to get an infection that kills you? A hospital.
Hospitals are the fourth largest cause of death in the USA, killing more people that AIDS, car accidents and breast cancer combined. Around 103,000 people die each year due to infections that the got during a medical facility visit.
You want to stay healthy? Avoid the US medical system… a profit driven system that cares not one bit about the people it supposedly serves.
I know… I know… “the US has the best medical care in the world”… what ignorant statement will I be told next by some of those in this forum… “The US has the best educational system in the world”?
“The joint investigation identified the re-use of syringes (not needles) and the use of single dose vials of anesthesia medication on multiple patients as the potential sources of contamination.” means that the clinic reused syringes that where not to be reused. This reuse of syringes put 40,000 people at risk of being infected. That 40,000 people are at risk is not a guarantee all will become infected. The idea of the full amount of people exposed having to be ill to see this as a problem is disingenuous. I will agree that using this case to make comment on the whole health care system in the U.S. is fallacious.
John S
#17;
So, because we don’t know (and never will) exactly how many people were infected, this doesn’t matter?
#20–Nate==thats about it “for now.” So instead of scaremongering people, they should do the work to find out what happened and why.
I reread the article–can’t tell if its reuse of dirty needles, reuse of clean needles, or a one time occurrence of a single bad employee.
What does “an incident” mean if you don’t sufficient facts to understand what happened?
#17, bobbo,
So, rather than make a sensational headline devoid of relevant facts==just what is this climic’s infection rate? We don’t know, so this is a nothing issue.
Say what ??? We know there is a problem. It has just come to light. Until the actual people have all been tested we will not know how many have been infected.
If you notice termite damage in your home you don’t say it is irrelevant just because you don’t know the extent of the damage. You investigate to find out how much damage has occurred as well as take steps to halt the infection.
#21, bobbo,
I reread the article–can’t tell if its reuse of dirty needles, reuse of clean needles, or a one time occurrence of a single bad employee.
Since you are having a hard time I will post the relevant sentence.
US officials Thursday said 40,000 people may have been infected with HIV and hepatitis in a major health scare after a Las Vegas clinic was found to have re-used syringes and medicine vials.
Gee, that was the very first paragraph !!!
Some surgical equipment is designed to be sterilized. Much of it isn’t. Here, they reused equipment not designed to be reused.
Best medical attention money can buy, yeah right. Let’s face it humans are flawed, yes it’s true – they make mistakes. And I got news for you bubby, it don’t matter how much money’s involved. The whole concept of private medicine being superior to public medicine is ludicrous. The most important element in the health care industry isn’t the multimillion dollar technology, it’s the people.
#22–Catshit==when you find a termite hole in your house you don’t publish a newspaper item about 40,000 other houses having termites. Argument by analogy is one of imagination only.
I read your quoted sentence and the operative words are “may have been” or “we don’t know and are just making this up in order to make a headline.” Note the sentence does not say the clinic reused dirty needles. Nope, just devoid of information, so lets post a worst case scenario.
From the article: “Five of the infected people ((bobbo–thats 5 of the 6 known infected people)) all received anesthesia injections on the same day in the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada in the sprawling city of Las Vegas.”
So one person on one day used a dirty needle. Inspectors go in and find a clinic reusing disposable single dose meds and needles and the headline is ALL their patients MAY HAVE BEEN INSPECTED.
Let me re work my analogy. You find a hole in your wall at home. You assume its termites. You write your headline.
#24, bobbo,
They didn’t find problems occurring in 40,000 clinics. They found a problem in ONE clinic. They do know there is a problem. Until they get a better handle on it they do not know definitively how many people have been infected.
Scaremongering? Hardly. More like being prudent. But I suppose you want to use up all shipments of hamburg to ensure that no untainted meat is included before recalling it.
Will the final number be smaller? I hope so. I hope it is very much smaller.
Sorry bobbo- I’m with Catshit on this one. Man that sounds so funny.
#11 – “Yup. Blame your business failures on the employees. After all, no one else is capable of running a profitable business in France.”
Moved it to UK and it ran just fine thank you…
#25-#26==You may be right. I’m only guessing BASED ON THE EVIDENCE PROVIDED!!
THE EVIDENCE is limited to the following—6 people in Las Vegas have Hep C. 5 of those people were patients ON THE SAME FRIGGIN DAY at this clinic. Remove those 5 people from the stats, and you have an infection rate 50% LOWER than the average.
From the article: “”The joint investigation identified the re-use of syringes (not needles) and the use of single dose vials of anesthesia medication on multiple patients as the potential sources of contamination.” By implication but not clear statement this means the infections were CAUSED BY single dose medicine vials being re-used. One or more of those vials became contaminated by injecting diseased patient and the contamination in the affected vial was spread to other patients.
How many people got infected?===Best evidence is 5 people–already identified. Reusing single dose vials is medical malpractice and SHOULD BE A CRIME. Hard to believe a professional would do it, but ok, it happened at least once. How many more times? Who knows. Even reusing the vials “should” result in low infection rates if the needles are not reused as the article says as the “draw back” would be minimum and hopefully restricted to just the needle–another guess.
So, of all the bad horribles that can happen, this is quite minimal. Like blocks of urine falling from passenger aircraft–it only hurts if you are the unlucky one that gets hit.
SO–yes, lets all hope this criminal conduct has been stopped. It would be nice if the Doctor and Nurse involved would go to jail==but that probably wont happen in the flury of finger pointing and ignorance that will ensue.
#28, bobbo,
You may be right. I’m only guessing BASED ON THE EVIDENCE PROVIDED!!
And that is the error of your argument. You don’t know. The investigators don’t know either. Remember the termites? Just because you only see one or even five holes doesn’t mean there aren’t 40,000 holes you can’t see. (And with termites, that is probably true)
The only way to find out the true extent of the damage is to investigate further. But at this point in time, you do know you have a problem. You just don’t know how severe.
#29–catshit, with the evidence mounting on the shit====my analysis is based on the evidence provided and that is my error? I should like you base my concern/fear/argument on evidence I make up myself??
Reeallly??? I mean really?
You are right that some of the longer incubating diseases might still show up, but the EVIDENCE is everything has been discovered and just fear mongering and headline grabbing is going on rather than a prosecution of the guilty parties.
Do you look at every issue for the worst case and base you response on that?? Why not limit yourself to the actual evidence??
Not as much fun, but its good training. Just as we are what we eat, we are also what/how we think. Choose wisely “catshit.”
#30, bobbo,
… with the evidence mounting on the shit====my analysis is based on the evidence provided and that is my error?
No. I said your error was because you GUESSED.
Fact: Single use Syringes were reused.
Fact: Single use vials were reused.
Fact: At least five people have contracted Hep. C.
Fact: Hep C is only transmitted through contaminated fluid and tissue, such as blood.
Fact: Many diseases, including Hep C remain dormant for considerable time before becoming evident.
Fact: These five people were all treated at the same clinic.
Fact: There have been as many as 40,000 people treated at this clinic.
Fact: It is not known at this moment how many people were treated using reused single use medical equipment.
Those facts demonstrate that because single use items were reused, several people are known to have contracted a communicable disease. Until more facts are known, the true number remains unknown and subject to evaluation.
The investigation will include
1)how many people have blood borne communicable diseases
2)how many of those could have possibly contracted the disease from their clinic procedure
3)how many people from the clinic might still be in the early, non acute stages of their illness.
4)And how often this procedure was done with unsanitary equipment and drugs.
Do you look at every issue for the worst case and base you response on that?? Why not limit yourself to the actual evidence??
In evaluating damage you always start at the outside and work in through a process of elimination. It is that process of elimination that determines the answer.
In identifying a cause, you start inside and start looking out.
The two are not synonymous although they may be coincidental and share the evidence. Here the cause is identified already; unsanitary medical equipment. The extent of the damage will be determined by a different method entirely. Just because you know one does not mean you know the other.
Go back to the termites. You know the cause of the holes in your house. Evidence led you to identify termites as the cause. What you don’t know is the extend of the damage because you are still investigating where the damage is.