Over 700 people exposed to HIV, hepatitis at VA hospital

Over 700 people exposed to HIV, hepatitis at VA hospital that reused insulin pens



(NaturalNews) A major procedural botch at a Veterans Affairs (VA)
hospital in Western New York may have been responsible for exposing at
least 700 diabetic patients to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and even HIV.
As reported by the Associated Press (AP), the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System
was recently exposed for having reused individual insulin pens on
multiple patients throughout the course of several years, which put
these patients at serious risk of infection.

It is the
institutionalized equivalent of needle-sharing, and a highly
irresponsible practice that workers at the VA hospital were apparently
unaware could be dangerous. An inspection conducted in November 2012
found unlabeled insulin pens on medication carts throughout the
hospital, which upon further investigation, was revealed to be a routine
practice at the facility. And after reviewing hospital records,
authorities discovered that insulin pens were being recycled and reused
by hospital staff since they first arrived at the facility back in
October 2010.

"Reuse of insulin pens for more than one patient
essentially is akin to syringe reuse," explained Dr. Melissa Schaefer
from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to
AP about the issue. "You can get back flow of blood into that syringe
or cartridge that contains the insulin and then you potentially expose
other patients. And changing the needle wouldn't make it safe for
multi-patient use."

There is a chance that nurses and hospital staff were simply ignorant about the proper use of insulin pens,
having fallaciously assumed that changing the needles on the pens was
enough to prevent contamination and the potential spread of infection.
But it is also possible that laziness and negligence were to blame, and
that the problem would have continued had it not been for the recent
inspection.

"Is this situation isolated to the VA Medical Center
in Buffalo or is it reflective of a systemic problem in patient labeling
that has endangered veterans throughout the VA healthcare system?"
asked Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) in a letter to Veterans Affairs
Secretary Shinseki. Rep. Shinseki and other members of a regional
congressional delegation are currently seeking an investigation to get
to the bottom of the issue.

Similarly, back in 2010, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) fined a veterans hospital
in Philadelphia $227,500 for committing an "unprecedented number" of
radiation errors in treating prostate cancer patients. As reported by The New York Times (NYT), the number of radiation errors made at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center
was so large that an overwhelming majority of prostate cancer patients
at the hospital was determined to have been improperly treated during a
six-year investigatory period from 2002 to 2008.

Source:-
http://www.naturalnews.com/038982_HIV_insulin_pens_VA_hospital.html