DEPARTMENT OF VETERAN AFFAIRS LOOKING INTO POSSIBLE CONTAMINATION AT MEDICAL FACILITIES
The Department of Veteran Affairs has launched an investigation into whether there is a connection between improperly seterilized endoscopy equipment and a veteran's postivie HIV test. In addition to the positive HIV test, sixteen other veterans have tested positive for hepatitis B and hepatitis C at two VA facilities.
The VA has publicly acknowledged that more than 10,000 veterans were possibly exposed to HIV and hepatitis at three VA facilities while undergoing colonoscopies and other procedures with equipment that had not been properly cleaned. The VA is offering free testing for hepatitis B, C and HIV to those veterans. The facilities in question are located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia and Miami, Florida. The VA is reviewing procedures at other facilities and claims to have encountred no additioanl problems. The VA has also brought in additional staff to help with testing and counseling in the affected facilities. The VA has also said it will pay for treatment for the infected vets even if they didn't hepatitis or HIV from the dirty equipment.
Lawmakers are also calling for an investigation into the potential problems of contamination; whether any patient has contracted an infection from unsterilized equipment; and how the government can prevent such problems from happening again.
