Vegas clinic may have exposed 40k to hepatitis, HIV

[Dargos]

Vegas clinic may have exposed 40k to hepatitis, HIVStory Highlights
Six patients Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada infected with hepatitis

Five were treated in September, one may have been patient in July

40,000 patients who received injections of anesthesia at the clinic are at risk

Patients who are at risk will receive letters in the next week
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (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.

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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.

Heres a link to the story.

I heard it first this moring on Bayern 5 Aktuel (a German Radio News Channel) as I was driving into work. What a cluster fuck.

[Shroom Man 777]

What the fuck kind of needles did they use?!

[PainRack]

I'm not shocked at the reuse of medication bit, but which idiot re-use syringes?

[Dargos]

I'm not shocked at the reuse of medication bit, but which idiot re-use syringes?

I am not shocked either about the medication bit, its pretty much standard. What really shocks me is that according to the article, the clinic has had unsafe proceedures regarding syringes as a standard for years!

[KlavoHunter]

I'm not shocked at the reuse of medication bit, but which idiot re-use syringes?

Clearly the kind who live in Las Vegas, it would seem.

[PainRack]

I am not shocked either about the medication bit, its pretty much standard. What really shocks me is that according to the article, the clinic has had unsafe proceedures regarding syringes as a standard for years!

It really shouldn't be standard though.......
Its just that the clinic is attempting to save money by combining and reusing doses.

[Jaepheth]

When it says they were reusing medication, that means they were using those sealed vials multiple times, right? Why are you supposed to only use those once? So long as only sterile needles go into the vial, why shouldn't as many uses be squeezed out as possible?

[Dargos]

When it says they were reusing medication, that means they were using those sealed vials multiple times, right? Why are you supposed to only use those once? So long as only sterile needles go into the vial, why shouldn't as many uses be squeezed out as possible?

Jaepheth, the medication is not the issue, they were following improper procedures with syringes putting possibly up 40k persons in risk of HIV or Hep B.

[PainRack]

When it says they were reusing medication, that means they were using those sealed vials multiple times, right? Why are you supposed to only use those once? So long as only sterile needles go into the vial, why shouldn't as many uses be squeezed out as possible?

For one, you won't be introducing accurate dosage of medication due to the mixture of drugs.
Secondly, the medication is contaminated with other vials. And remember, we aren't just introducing other medication into the via, we're also introducing dirt and bacteria inside. Even if you re-seal it, its no longer as sterile as it used to be.
Lastly, once you open the vial, the medication can be degraded and the effectiveness may be affected via exposure to the environment.

Its wrong, but at least, one can "see" how one can close one eyes to this mistake. The syringes part is absolutely unforgivable though.

[Shroom Man 777]

Seriously, that's not incompetence. That's deliberate endangerment.

[MKSheppard]

Welcome to the Soviet Union Comrades!

[Broomstick]

Nonsense- it's an effect of the free market: by re-using syringes you can cut supply costs and maximize profits!

[MKSheppard]

Nonsense- it's an effect of the free market: by re-using syringes you can cut supply costs and maximize profits!

Actually, this happened in the USSR a lot:

Then one morning I saw a whole covey of senior doctors in their flapping white medical coats, led by Golubchikov, rushing toward the office of Colonel Ivanov. I had not thought too much about the incident then. But when I returned to the hospital in March, Natasha, a pleasant Urkainian nurse, had told me that three of the Congolese pilots had tested positive for HIV, the virus that caused "SPID," AIDS.

The ominous news had flashed around the hospital within an hour, she said. Not only had those fellows slept with Russian girls, the hospital had used the same hypodermic syringes to draw blood from the Congolese and other patients, including me. Although the Central Aviation Hospital had a West German CAT scan, computerized Japanese laboratory equipment, and the latest imported surgical devices, the Ministry of Defense was unable to obtain disposable syringes. And the nurses told me that lazy and incompetent medical orderlies rarely sterilized the reusable syringes correctly. And, six months earlier, I had sat in the laboratory with these African fellows while blood samples were taken from all of us.

This is the first thing I thought of when I heard of this...

[cosmicalstorm]

Reusing syringes is one of the most gigantic NO-NO's in the medical community, thats reminiscent of going on a date dressed as a stormtrooper.

[Darth Wong]

Nonsense- it's an effect of the free market: by re-using syringes you can cut supply costs and maximize profits!

Actually, this happened in the USSR a lot:

That doesn't refute the point, although I can see how you might think it does, since your method of socio-political analysis seems to boil down to dividing the world into two sides and then picking one.

[MKSheppard]

That doesn't refute the point

Uhrm, it's the first thing I thought of when I heard "reused syringes" on the news. Sorry if I do have a one track mind.

Seriously, I'm WTFing over this; a box of 100 syringes is $19.95; that comes down to a measly 19 cents per syringe. Probably cheaper, like 15 cents if you buy in huge bulk like a hospital would.

What's the point of trying to save a few cents on syringes per visit by reusing them? Any mythical costs are wiped out by the fact that doing this dramatically raises the chances of you being sued.

[Darth Wong]

That doesn't refute the point

Uhrm, it's the first thing I thought of when I heard "reused syringes" on the news. Sorry if I do have a one track mind.

Seriously, I'm WTFing over this; a box of 100 syringes is $19.95; that comes down to a measly 19 cents per syringe. Probably cheaper, like 15 cents if you buy in huge bulk like a hospital would.

What's the point of trying to save a few cents on syringes per visit by reusing them? Any mythical costs are wiped out by the fact that doing this dramatically raises the chances of you being sued.

I suspect the problem is at the administrative level. An understaffed clinic might not have a person whose job is to make sure that they're always full on supplies (such as syringes). If they are continually running out, they might start getting into a habit of re-using the things.

I seriously doubt that there were personnel there who were standing right next to a box overflowing with new syringes in their sterile packaging and refused to use them.

[MKSheppard]

I suspect the problem is at the administrative level. An understaffed clinic might not have a person whose job is to make sure that they're always full on supplies (such as syringes). If they are continually running out, they might start getting into a habit of re-using the things.

That's just the thing; the syringes are so damn cheap; AND they are a material thats going to be used alot; so any excess supply orders will not be a liability to you; e.g. it won't hurt your bottom line if you have 200% excess inventory of syringes; since the place probably goes through them like butter.

[Broomstick]

You have no idea of how tight money can be at a clinic - when I worked in one we went through a couple of months where we employees had to buy our own toilet paper and disposable gloves because we barely had enough money to keep the lights on. We didn't make payroll on one occasion I remember. If the clinic was in that sort of financial distress yes, even pennies can count.

Re-using of disposable medical supplies is a world-wide problem happening on all continents (yes, probably even Antarctica - you run out during the winter re-supply is weeks, if not months, away). It is invariably connected to a shortage of supplies and/or money. Yes, the medical people do know better - some of them just fucking don't care (there are assholes in every profession) and others are trying to stretch supplies and probably a dozen other reasons of varying degrees of bad to worse.

[General Zod]

Maybe it's just me, but while the scale of the malpractice is bad, I'm more surprised at the fact the clinic is even given the chance to continue operating.

[cosmicalstorm]

I could see how you would reuse syringes if you sterilized them inbetween, I work at a dental clinic, we put everything that has been anywhere near a patient through dishwashers, ultrasonic cleaners and autoclaves. Im pretty confident that would be enough to kill all nasties even in a syringe, could be done if there was some kind of extreme shortage.

[wjs7744]

Hypodermic needles are quite fragile though, I'm not sure if they can be sterilised as easily as other equipment.

Still, reusing syringes is such a bad idea that I've been taught not to do it, and I'm not even studying medicine!