If You Had A Va Prostrate Biopsy

[wallyg]

On April 13, 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that

some veterans who received prostate biopsies in medical facilities of the

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 11 states, the District of Columbia

and Puerto Rico may have been treated with improperly disinfected

instruments. Although VA has not received any reports of patients being

harmed, the Department is notifying all veterans who were treated by the

equipment in question, called "a prostate biopsy transducer." VA is also

offering follow-on testing to determine if these veterans were exposed to

any other ailments. Although VA inspectors found that the equipment used for

the prostate biopsies was being cleaned and disinfected after each

procedure, some equipment was not being scrubbed by a brush after each use,

resulting in the remote possibility of infection. Improperly scrubbed

equipment carries a small risk of exposing patients to Hepatitis B,

Hepatitis C and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). VA is notifying

patients who received prostate biopsies with the equipment in question at

the following facilities: District of Columbia; Iowa City, Iowa; Togas,

Maine; Minneapolis, Minn.; Fort Harrison and Miles City, Mont.; Las Vegas,

Nev.; Buffalo and Canandaigua, NY; Cincinnati. Ohio; Oklahoma City, Okla.;

Portland, Ore.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Memphis, Murfreesboro and Nashville,

Tenn.; and Milwaukee, Wisc. www1.va.gov/opa/

[john999]

Wally

The VA was using unsterilized cranial implants at the Tampa VAMC.