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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Hepatitis / March 2008Nev. Clinic Creates Hepatitis C Scare
Nev. Clinic Creates Hepatitis C Scare LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A clinic may have infected a handful of patients with hepatitis C -- but about 40,000 more should be tested for that virus, as well as for HIV, health officials said Wednesday. Six people who underwent procedures at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada now have the blood-borne hepatitis C virus, the Southern Nevada Health District said in a statement. Five of them were treated the same day in late September; the sixth is believed to have been infected in July, the district said. An investigation determined that "unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients," the statement said. Officials said the unsafe practices had been in place for several years and may have put others at risk. About 40,000 patients who received injections of anesthesia at the clinic will be told of the potential exposure in letters arriving next week. Anyone who received anesthesia at the clinic from March 2004 to Jan. 11 should be tested for the virus, along with hepatitis B and HIV, chief health officer Lawrence Sands said. "We are recommending all patients during this time frame to get tested because we cannot determine which patients may have been exposed," Sands said. Hepatitis C is a chronic, potentially fatal virus that can cause liver ailments, including cancer and liver failure. The health district says it typically receives reports of two acute cases each year. Three of the six cases reported this year are acute, it said. The virus may have been spread when clinic staff reused syringes and used a single dose of anesthesia medication on multiple patients, the district said. Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada has ceased those practices, it said. "All concerns noted by the health department were addressed immediately. We want to be sure that every patient who may have been exposed is informed and tested," the center said in a statement. To retain its state license and Medicare certification, the center faces increased on-site inspections and fines yet to be determined. Copyright (c) 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. One of my big potential infection situations was the reuse by Navy corpsmen of vaccine injectors... ~ Alex > One of my big potential infection situations was the reuse by Navy > corpsmen of vaccine injectors... The demographic with the highest rate of HCV is Viet Nam vets. There was even a high rate of liver disease among WWII vets, but the presumption of the day was that those guys "drank themselves to death." I remember being lined up with a whole auditorium full of other children at school, and we stepped up for our innoculation, one by one, as the nurse swabbed the needle with alcohol. I'll always wonder. yes WS there are so many things I will always wonder about as well. I grew up in that same era ;) After high school my first job was as a dental assistant to a dentist who specialized in dental prosthetics and oral surgery.As the dental assistant I was in charge of handling all the dental equipmet, sterilization etc. I recall that back in those day (early 70's) he was not even using disposable needles - I can recall his sitting there sharpening his needles on a stone... they were all reused back then. What makes it more interesting is that it was one of those Old School Dental practices which was located in a huge old house of which part of it had been converted into the dental offices - thus the "house" where they lived was adjoined to the dental offices....granted there was a locking door between the two, but that door was mostly unlocked during the hours when the office was open, and locked at night. His 20 year old son and his pregnant 16 year old wife were living there as well.... It was the nightmare job of a lifetime - his wife was a stark raving alcoholic who would walk downtown to buy vodka, then return and come into the waiting room drunk out of her mind - I recall once time where she was literally in the waiting room ranting and raving about what and a.shole "doc" was and keeled over on the waiting room floor with her skirt up around her neck. The patients of course all thought "doc" was a saint for putting up with her. It was absolutely bizarre! But where it got "funnier" was when "doc" and his daughter (the dental hygenist in the other room) would have to literally go in there and carry her into the house - and while they were thus occupied, the SON, who was an IV drug abuser, would take the opportunity to slip thru the door, knowing his dad and sister were preoccupied to "borrow" injection stuff - needles etc. Mind you there were the same needles that were being used on patients etc... I didn't stay there long, but I'm still haunted about it to this day! Mind you, I was 17 and clueless as well at that time about things like Hep C and HIV - I don't remember even hearing about Aids/HIV until maybe the early 80's when my own kids were young....Still it haunts me. I have even wondered if there were a way to get in touch with his old patients - he is long dead now, was an old man when I was working there - but then I think all his patients were elderly as well, and are probably all long gone as well..... |
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