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?
Ooopps,
That last sentence should have been
What you don’t know is the extent of the damage
There was a Hepatitis scare here in my area where a clinic in a major hospital possibly exposed 300+ people by reusing needles.
They attributed it to poor training, I attribute it to a mentally ill individual that had a fetish for this kind of crazy stuff. They never admitted blame and I believe the lawsuits continue.
The medical community really needs to have the 2-man rule in many cases, where one man watches the other and both have to keep tabs on proper procedure. Too many whackos out there.
#31–Well, lets hope the damage is limited to that one clinic and save our powder for bigger issues.
#33–Doctors or highly trained nurses administered this medication. First step in administration is to check the medication for type and volume. In single dose vials, this means the vial is “full.”
This was no accident. It was purposeful action to save a small amount of money. Even then, proper skill set of never drawing back on the needle would have avoided contamination–so we have negligence and criminal conduct.
If people don’t go to jail over this pretty simple to prove case, it will be because Vegas police/prosecutors are lazy/stupid.