Unsterile equipment used on veterans, thousands need HIV tests

[jimmy olsen]

 ??? WTF, that's horrifying. Whoever's responsible needs to hang. This is simple stuff that should be done automatically without any thought required.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29842788/

Unsterile equipment used on Miami veterans

More than 3,000 who had colonoscopies at VA hospital told to get HIV tests

updated 2 hours, 44 minutes ago

MIAMI - Officials say more than 3,000 patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Miami had colonoscopies with equipment that wasn't properly sterilized

They've been told they should be tested for HIV and other diseases.

The VA insists the risk of infection is minimal and only involved tubing on equipment, not any device that actually touched a patient. But it's the second recent announcement of errors during colonoscopies at VA facilities.

Last month, more than 6,000 patients at a clinic in Tennessee were told they may have been exposed to infectious body fluids during colonoscopies.

The VA also said 1,800 veterans treated at an ear, nose and throat clinic in Augusta, Ga., were alerted they could have been exposed to an infection due to improper disinfection of an instrument.

© 2009 The Associated Press

[KRonn]

That is nasty, frightening for those patients. Probably pretty scary since the possibility is there for any of us in routine medical procedures that aren't done properly.