St. Louis Va Dental Disease Exposure

[gdsnide]

OK I received a letter from the St.Louis VA saying " I may have been exposed to Hepatitis B,Hep C & HIV

Letter said to come in & get a blood test if one wants & "Don't worry" as its no big deal problem as someone wasn't cleaning Dental Tools correcttly & you may have been exposed to these diseases

I was at the VA Hospital today & my Daughter called me & told me about the certified letter I had received & what it said

I had a blood test & they said they would have the results in about 2 weeks

Everyone very reassuring that its very unlikely anyone has anything so stay calm

Find article about this below Not sure what is going on but sounds rather serious to me....Was told I could file a claim or a tort claim on this but guess that depends on the blood tests

Also, we're to be retested in 6 months

Does anyone know if it's possible this stuff won't show up in a blood test & one still has it?.....GARY

Veterans receiving dental care may have been exposed to ...

Jun 29, 2010 ... (KMOV)-- More than 1800 veterans in the St. Louis area may have been exposed to potentially life threatening diseases at the John Cochran VA Hospital. ... The veterans administration is contacting veterans from Missouri ...

www.kmov.com/.../Veterans-receiving-dental-care-may-have-been-exposed-to-potentially-deadly-diseases-97431474.html - 2 hours ago

[Chu Lai69]

T-Bird I suffer from PTSD and use the VA health care for most of my medical and I am scared shitless. I had dental (tooth pulled in March) and I am freaking out over the last few days. While I am not in the area were this went wrong "this time" I am just seeing vets getting pretty damn fed up with the VA health care system!

Now that they have many vets coming to them and exspanding and doing more things than they should not be doing they are going to have the opportunity to kill more of us and reduce the pay outs more!!

This is total BS! I can only imagine what is next on their agenda???

Please don't be afraid of the VA Health Care system!! I go to the St. Louis VA that was named in the news and have never ever had a problem with the care I receive there. In fact I get great care there and will continue to go there. This happens more then you know at other places too. NOT just the VA. You just don't hear about it. You do now, cause its the VA. I know lots of hospitals NON VA that has made serious mistakes that led to actual deaths or made sick persons sicker. Miss dx'd etc etc. You just don't hear about them because they are not a Federal institution. People still go back to that hospital. Just don't be afraid of the VA health care system. This is just my opinion from my own experiences from the ST. Louis VA hospital in question.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Chu Lai69

[Tbird]

chu

Good point. I do get all my medical care through the St Louis VA and for the most part, it has been pretty good. This thread isn't meant to trash the VA, I for one do not believe that the whole VA stinks and they are all trying to screw us around, just as I don't believe that all veterans are worthless compensation seeking veterans, stereotypes don't work for me on either side of the fence.. I don't like to generalize about the VA or VSO's I've had great, fine, ok, and oh sh-t this guy's gonna kill me experiences. I always tell people it depends on the individual you are seeing and also how much bs you may have already been through.

[Chu Lai69]

chu

Good point. I do get all my medical care through the St Louis VA and for the most part, it has been pretty good. This thread isn't meant to trash the VA, I for one do not believe that the whole VA stinks and they are all trying to screw us around, just as I don't believe that all veterans are worthless compensation veterans, stereotypes don't work for me on either side of the fence.. I don't like to generalize about the VA or VSO's I've had great, fine, ok, and oh sh-t this guy's gonna kill me experiences. I always tell people it depends on the individual you are seeing and also how much bs you may have already been through.

Well put. Thanks for your 2 cents on that topic. Hmmmm St Louis huh?? Howdy neighbor LOL

[Commander Bob]

... I always tell people it depends on the individual you are seeing and also how much bs you may have already been through.

Therein lies my dilemma... You hit the nail on the head for me, Tbird. Just too many apathetic / incompetent employees, and too much BS for me.

I agree, this sterilization mistake could happen any where, civ. or gov... And, I know things are getting better at the VAMC's, however this incident is just another brick in the wall for me. ( How appropriate the posted newspaper photo of the St.Louis VAMC is. )

Just driving into a overcrowded parking lot, knowing what I am about to face at the VAMC, triggers my PTSD. I have been through over 40 years of VA, I have learned to face my fears with determination, and go on... Knowing, I will prevail.

Edited July 1, 2010 by Commander Bob

[gdsnide]

Therein lies my dilemma... You hit the nail on the head for me, Tbird. Just too many apathetic / incompetent employees, and too much BS for me.

I agree, this sterilization mistake could happen any where, civ. or gov... And, I know things are getting better at the VAMC's, however this incident is just another brick in the wall for me. ( How appropriate the posted newspaper photo of the St.Louis VAMC is. )

Just driving into a overcrowded parking lot, knowing what I am about to face at the VAMC, triggers my PTSD. I have been through over 40 years of VA, I have learned to face my fears with determination, and go on... Knowing, I will prevail.

BOB...One thing we do have at John cochran in St.Louis is Valet Parking so here no one has to worry about crowded parking lots

But, they did shut down the "Smoking Building" they built which was a big disappointment to a lot of us

Also, it was a bit of a SNAFU cause when it rained water would sit on the ground inside even though it had a drain I heard it cost the VA 35k for the building

GARY

[Commander Bob]

I hope everything goes well with you, gdsnide, and all the other vets in St. Louis.

Best regards to all.

Bob