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

[Tbird]

Cochran dental chief put on leave http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_7288d0c2-58ea-5ad6-be78-8b223a8f158d.html

[Berta]

Tbird is right-

The VA saves lives everyday and there are many many dedicated employees at VAs who are exceptional at their jobs.

But many here can opine on this situation due to ,as Tbird said, the personal BS we have been through.

This latest story at VA Watchdog is what I mentioned to a vet's advocate the other day-this didn't happen in a vaccum- I wonder if these dental assistants were 'directed' by someone to forego the proper sterilization procedure.

Something happened in March 2009 that snow balled into all of this.Something changed in March or maybe even sooner then that.A decision was made to forego the sterilization protocol and as Ms. Johnson stated- management had already been warned.There is more to this then meets the eye.

"Meanwhile, Earlene Johnson, 53, of south St. Louis, came forward to say she had warned management at John Cochran of unsanitary cleaning practices she saw while working there. Johnson said she has 30 years of experience with sterilized instruments.

In an August 2009 e-mail to hospital supervisors, she outlined suggestions that included a "more effective" way of sterilizing instruments.

"There were procedures that needed to be in place," said Johnson, who said she spent nearly a year at the hospital assembling trays of instruments that had been through the cleaning process.

"The instruments were coming out bloody — not all of them, but some of them."

She said she was fired from John Cochran for "unprofessional conduct" and is legally contesting the dismissal.

"I tried to make improvements, but I got pushed away," she said."

http://www.vawatchdog.org/10/nf10/nfjul10/nf070210-1.htm

This quote is from the link in Tbird's post:

"I have a lot of information that proves we were doing things correctly," Danny L. Turner said in an interview late Thursday in his office, after he had been put on administrative leave.

Yeah right- I have had so much personal experience with VA's spin (even from the General Counsel's office-they are masters at spin) that this statement from th dental clinic director reminded me of what a VA doctor told me in 1992, as he helped cover up 4 years of VA malpractice in a different VAMC hoping I would never find out how they caused my husband's death.

Of course documented malpractice can never really be covered up at all.

Once some real investigations take place on this matter , we will know what really happened in this dental clinic.

And when it really began.

[Commander Bob]

CNN cable News, just did a story on the St.Louis VA incident. They also reported more unrelated problems within the VA, system wide. Such as " VA Gaming the Schedules", and other issues that came out in a report. Hot topic, today ~~~~

[gdsnide]

CNN cable News, just did a story on the St.Louis VA incident. They also reported more unrelated problems within the VA, system wide. Such as " VA Gaming the Schedules", and other issues that came out in a report. Hot topic, today ~~~~

Heres the CNN Story & it says even OBama has been notified so it makes one wonder what in the "Sam Hill" is going on
GARY

Doesn't look like the Video portion posted but is worth looking up on CNN News site
A lot of people making a lot of noise & will be interesting to see where this ends ( The Video is worth finding}
GARYhttp://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/global/icons/btn_close.gif
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VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV
By the CNN Wire StaffcnnAuthor = "By the CNN Wire Staff"; if(location.hostname.indexOf( 'edition.' ) > -1) {document.write('July 1, 2010 -- Updated 1213 GMT (2013 HKT)');} else {document.write('July 1, 2010 8:13 a.m. EDT');}July 1, 2010 -- Updated 1213 GMT (2013 HKT)var clickExpire = "-1";var playerOverRide = {headline : "Vets exposed to HIV, hepatitis?",images : };/video/us/2010/07/01/intv.carnahan.va.contamination.cnn.640x360.jpg http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gifVets exposed to HIV, hepatitis?var cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('us/2010/07/01/intv.carnahan.va.contamination.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('us/2010/07/01/intv.carnahan.va.contamination.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}STORY HIGHLIGHTSMissouri VA hospital sends letters to more than 1,800 patients at riskPatients may be at risk to contract hepatitis and HIVCongressman from Missouri angry and calling for investigationHospital says problem stems from handwashing dental instruments var cnnRelatedTopicKeys = []; RELATED TOPICS cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('Missouri'); Missouri cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('Veterans_Affairs'); Veterans' Affairs cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('HIV_and_AIDS'); HIV and AIDS(CNN) -- A Missouri VA hospital is under fire because it may have exposed more than 1,800 veterans to life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis has recently mailed letters to 1,812 veterans telling them they could contract hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after visiting the medical center for dental work, said Rep. Russ Carnahan.

Carnahan said Tuesday he is calling for a investigation into the issue and has sent a letter to President Obama about it.

"This is absolutely unacceptable," said Carnahan, a Democrat from Missouri. "No veteran who has served and risked their life for this great nation should have to worry about their personal safety when receiving much needed healthcare services from a Veterans Administration hospital."

The issue stems from a failure to clean dental instruments properly, the hospital told CNN affiliate KSDK.

KSDK: VA dental patients at risk of infection

Dr. Gina Michael, the association chief of staff at the hospital, told the affiliate that some dental technicians broke protocol by handwashing tools before putting them in cleaning machines.

The instruments were supposed to only be put in the cleaning machines, Michael said.

The handwashing started in February 2009 and went on until March of this year, the hospital told KSDK.

The hospital has set up a special clinic and education centers to help patients who may have been infected. However, Carnahan said he feels more should be done and those responsible should be disciplined.

"I can only imagine the horror and anger our veterans must be feeling after receiving this letter," Carnahan said. "They have every right to be angry. So am I."

This is not the first time this year a hospital has been in hot water for not following proper procedures.

In June, Palomar Hospital in San Diego, California, has sent certified letters to 3,400 patients who underwent colonoscopy and other similar procedures, informing the patients that there may be a potential of infection from items used and reused in the procedures.

[gdsnide]

Heres the CNN Story & it says even OBama has been notified so it makes one wonder what in the "Sam Hill" is going on
GARY Heres the Video address for CNN article about the VA..Very Interesting

Doesn't look like the Video portion posted but is worth looking up on CNN News site
A lot of people making a lot of noise & will be interesting to see where this ends ( The Video is worth finding}
GARYhttp://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gif http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/global/icons/btn_close.gif
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VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV
By the CNN Wire StaffcnnAuthor = "By the CNN Wire Staff"; if(location.hostname.indexOf( 'edition.' ) > -1) {document.write('July 1, 2010 -- Updated 1213 GMT (2013 HKT)');} else {document.write('July 1, 2010 8:13 a.m. EDT');}July 1, 2010 -- Updated 1213 GMT (2013 HKT)var clickExpire = "-1";var playerOverRide = {headline : "Vets exposed to HIV, hepatitis?",images : };/video/us/2010/07/01/intv.carnahan.va.contamination.cnn.640x360.jpg http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/img/3.0/1px.gifVets exposed to HIV, hepatitis?var cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('us/2010/07/01/intv.carnahan.va.contamination.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('us/2010/07/01/intv.carnahan.va.contamination.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}STORY HIGHLIGHTSMissouri VA hospital sends letters to more than 1,800 patients at riskPatients may be at risk to contract hepatitis and HIVCongressman from Missouri angry and calling for investigationHospital says problem stems from handwashing dental instruments var cnnRelatedTopicKeys = []; RELATED TOPICS cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('Missouri'); Missouri cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('Veterans_Affairs'); Veterans' Affairs cnnRelatedTopicKeys.push('HIV_and_AIDS'); HIV and AIDS(CNN) -- A Missouri VA hospital is under fire because it may have exposed more than 1,800 veterans to life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis has recently mailed letters to 1,812 veterans telling them they could contract hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after visiting the medical center for dental work, said Rep. Russ Carnahan.

Carnahan said Tuesday he is calling for a investigation into the issue and has sent a letter to President Obama about it.

"This is absolutely unacceptable," said Carnahan, a Democrat from Missouri. "No veteran who has served and risked their life for this great nation should have to worry about their personal safety when receiving much needed healthcare services from a Veterans Administration hospital."

The issue stems from a failure to clean dental instruments properly, the hospital told CNN affiliate KSDK.

KSDK: VA dental patients at risk of infection

Dr. Gina Michael, the association chief of staff at the hospital, told the affiliate that some dental technicians broke protocol by handwashing tools before putting them in cleaning machines.

The instruments were supposed to only be put in the cleaning machines, Michael said.

The handwashing started in February 2009 and went on until March of this year, the hospital told KSDK.

The hospital has set up a special clinic and education centers to help patients who may have been infected. However, Carnahan said he feels more should be done and those responsible should be disciplined.

"I can only imagine the horror and anger our veterans must be feeling after receiving this letter," Carnahan said. "They have every right to be angry. So am I."

This is not the first time this year a hospital has been in hot water for not following proper procedures.

In June, Palomar Hospital in San Diego, California, has sent certified letters to 3,400 patients who underwent colonoscopy and other similar procedures, informing the patients that there may be a potential of infection from items used and reused in the procedures.

[gdsnide]

Ya, Video site didn't post so here it is again

Hey, heres the Video website.. I just copied the adress

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/va.hospital.hiv/index.html?npt=NP1&fbid=sAPvLh26C5W

GARY