Hep C

[Pete53]

An old member I talk to just was turned down for life insurance cause he has Hep C. His only exposure would be air gun in Army and a colonoscopy he got a year ago at VA.

Any thoughts that can be shared would be helpful.

Pete

[carlie]

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-7...3D35897%26hl%3D

[Berta]

The VVA won the first air gun Hep claim-I posted it here quite some time ago.

On the colostomy- what VAMC did this on him?

They were caught not sterilizing the colostomy equipment properly in at least one VA not that long ago and vets filed FTCA and/or 1151 claims.

He has a potential chance to succeed in this claim but will need lots of help.

Hope he doesnt have tattoos or any IV drug use background.Or ever worked as a nurse of EMT or physician after service. These are potential ways VA can deny these claims.

[Berta]

full story here on contaminated VA equipment:

http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfmar09/nf032809-8.htm

[Pete53]

Thanks to Carlie and Berta. No this Vet has no tatoos or drug use and no medical exposure except treatment by VA.

I think he should file a 1151 claim and also request that VA notify all the Vets who had colonoscopy at the time he did and see if testing shows any other cases.

[Vync]

I just read that link Carlie posted. You can't be any more forthcoming than that.

Also, the VA has tried to discredit the claims by www.hcvets.com by issuing a fast letter intended to debunk any claim that Hep C was contracted by jet injectors.

Hep-C Fact: You can have it, yet exhibit no symptoms. If you have it, it can go active at any time. The only way to know for sure is by a blood test to detect Hep C antibodies.

Stories about immunizations by jet injector take me back to basic training. I remember being part of a long line of recruits. As we were being looped around the room to each injection station, I remember seeing a number of people in front of me with blood running down their arm after receiving injections. After I was injected, blood ran down my arm. No attempts were made to wipe down any of the jet injectors.

As previously chronicled here on Hadit (http://www.hadit.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t16731.html), here is something to chew on:

http://www.ha.osd.mil/afeb/reports/vaccines.pdf

(Chapter C, Page 60)

C. Issues of Administration

1. Jet Injector Use

"Acetone or alcohol wipes were used to clean the tips after each inoculation, nozzles visibly contaminated with blood were replaced and sterilized before additional use, and all injector nozzles were cleaned and sterilized daily. All services reported using the injectors routinely."

...

"Of note is that the AFEB made a site visit to the MTF at Parris Island and directly observed high volume recruit immunization using jet injectors. It was noted that jet injector nozzle's were frequently contaminated with blood, yet sterlization practices were frequently inadequate or not followed."

For official VA-related Hep-C info, go to:

http://www.hepatitis.va.gov/vahep?page=we-00-00

Hmm... Sounds like the VA was a bit hasty to release that fast letter:

http://www.hepatitis.va.gov/vahep?page=basics-05-00

"Who should get tested?"

...

"- Had exposure to blood on the skin"

My take on this: If you know you were not the very first person in the morning to have been given air injection immunizations, you need to be tested. Even if you were, based on the military and VA record of sterility, you probably should get tested. Bottom line, get tested...

[Pete53]

What a pack of liars. At Ft Bliss the guys giving shots were PFC's with no real medical education. You walked up they blasted your arm and the next guy walked up and got his dose. They did not even wipe your arm with a sterile pad. The whole idea was to inoculate as many as quickly as they could.