This is the Miami
HCV Center of Excellence
Vets had colonoscopies
with unsterile equipment
By Matt Sedensky
- The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Mar 23,
2009 18:40:39 EDT
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.
Possible contamination
at VA facilities sparks
call for inquiry
http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5476
Contaminated colonoscopy
gear may have exposed
Florida veterans to
hepatitis, HIV
* Florida lawmakers seek
inquiry, raise concerns
about other facilities
* VA sent letters to
people who may have had
colonoscopies May 2004
to this month
* Officials say tubing
was rinsed but not
disinfected, call risk
of infection minimal
by Jennifer Pifer
Bixler, Elizabeth Cohen
and Sabriya Rice
Thousands of veterans
in South Florida may
have been exposed to
hepatitis and HIV
because of contaminated
equipment after getting
colonoscopies at the
Miami Veterans Affairs
Healthcare System,
officials announced
Monday.
Two Florida lawmakers
are asking for an
inspector general's
inquiry.
"The VA is a model of
the type of health care
we provide our veterans,
and when mistakes like
this occur, it
undermines the efficacy
of the entire system,"
said Rep. Kendrick B.
Meek, D-Florida, in a
news release. Meek,
along with Sen. Bill
Nelson, D-Florida, is
requesting an official
inquiry by the inspector
general of the VA.
In a letter to
retired Gen. Eric
Shinseki, the secretary
of Veterans Affairs,
Nelson said he is also
concerned about possible
contaminated equipment
at facilities in
Murfreesboro, Tennessee,
and Augusta, Georgia.
"I am requesting that
the VA Office of
Inspector General begin
an investigation into
the potential problems
of contamination;
whether any patient has
contracted an infection
from unsterilized
equipment; and, most
importantly, how we can
prevent such problems
from happening again,"
Nelson wrote.
"Finally, I urge the
VA to commit to
providing ongoing
medical care in cases
where it is responsible
for exposing someone to
a disease."
On Monday, the VA
sent letters to 3,260
people who may have had
colonoscopies between
May 2004 and March 12,
2009. Hospital officials
said a review of safety
procedures found that
tubing used in endoscope
procedures was rinsed
but not disinfected.
Officials say the
risk of infection is
minimal.
"What happened should
not have happened. We
are taking steps to
change it right now,"
said John Vara, the
Miami VA's chief of
staff.
The problem at the
Miami VA facility comes
on the heels of similar
problems with
endoscopies at the VA
clinic in Murfreesboro.
In December 2008, an
investigation found that
clinic workers were not
following manufacturer's
directions and switched
out parts they weren't
supposed to switch out,
according to
investigators. About
6,000 people who
underwent colonoscopies
at the clinic were
notified and offered
free testing for
infections.
According to Nelson,
more than 1,000 veterans
also were warned about
possible contamination
from treatment at the
ear, nose and throat
clinic at the Charlie
Norwood VA Medical
Center in Augusta.
In Miami, the VA has
opened "special care
clinics" to test
veterans who received
the notice and to
provide information.
"Screening is
strictly precautionary
and does not indicate
that any patients have
contracted a virus,"
Mary D. Berrocal,
director of the Miami
VA, said in a statement
on the VA's Web site.
The special care
clinics opened Tuesday
morning, and officials
say response from
patients has been good.
"They are being
proactive, and we are
glad. We want them to
get tested," said Susan
Warren, a spokeswoman
for the Miami VA
facility.
