February 29, 2008

Reused Syringes Put 40,000 at Risk

A Las Vegas clinic was found to have reused syringes and medical vials, putting 40,000 patients at risk for hepatitis and HIV, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports (afp.google.com, 2/28).

Health officials said in a statement that patients who received anesthesia injections at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada between March 2004 and January 11, 2008 are currently being notified and asked to contact their general practitioner for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV testing.

According to AFP, the clinic issued a statement claiming that it has already taken the necessary steps to correct the problem.

“As always, our patients remain our primary responsibility and we have already corrected the situation,” clinic officials say. “We have already taken steps to ensure that it will never happen again…We want to be sure that every patient who may have been exposed is informed and tested.”

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Previous Comments:

kristi, mpls,mn, 2008-03-05 16:03:27
WOW....IT really ticked me off.all the information we have in 2008,like DAH...There is no excuses for that one

C.Alexander, Chicago, 2008-03-04 14:41:48
This is a very disturbing story. If one person tests positive behind this exposure, everyone associated with the Clinic should be jailed for knowingly exposing someone to HIV/AIDS.

ken, Albuquerque, 2008-03-04 09:55:20
And what reparations will be made to those infected with HIV or Hep? Surely, someone brought up the risks in this; yet nothing was done. Heads should role but I fear the corporation will make this "mistake" go away. As in goernment, Money = Power.