“You served a country, but you don’t mean anything to her.”

Veterans exposed to viruses, claim V.A. avoided responsibility
MSNBC
By Ronan Farrow and Rich Gardella
12/18/14

Inside the V.A.: Colonoscopy claims denied
Five years ago, V.A. hospitals potentially exposed thousands of veterans to potential infections like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis. Ronan Farrow Daily and the NBC News Investigative Unit report that, for some, that was just the beginning of the nightmare.

John Renegar Jr., wearing a careworn baseball cap emblazed with “101st Airborne”, surveyed his small living room in Smyrna Tennessee and shrugged. “It just makes you think you don’t mean nothin’ to anybody, you know,” the 66 year old Vietnam vet said. “You served a country, but you don’t mean anything to her.”

Renegar is referring to his treatment by the Department of Veteran Affairs. He’s one of thousands of veterans to receive a bombshell of a letter in 2009 – warning them that they may have been exposed to life-threatening infections as a result of misconfigured or unclean colonoscopy equipment. He’s also one of a smaller group to subsequently test positive for a serious infection – in his case, chronic hepatitis that will leave him at risk for life-threatening liver damage for the rest of his life.

But Renegar was just as shaken by his treatment after the infection – with the V.A. ignoring his concerns, denying his claims, and eventually fighting him in court.

Documents obtained by NBC News show he is not alone – in fact, the agency has quietly rejected most of the medical malpractice claims associated with the botched colonoscopies.

Reneger said he believes he contracted his case of hepatitis during a colonoscopy at the V.A.’s Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee on Oct. 30, 2003. “You know you’ve lived a clean life and hadn’t done any kind of drugs or … been running around on my wife or anything,” he said. “… I don’t know of anywhere else I could have got it.” He was among 6,387 patients deemed at risk after procedures at that facility between April 23, 2003 and Dec. 1, 2008
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VA says 3 positive HIV tests from follow-ups

Nearly 11,000 could have been exposed to HIV as 5th case is linked
5th HIV Case Linked To VA Equipment

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A fifth patient has tested positive for HIV, and seven more have tested positive for hepatitis after being exposed to contaminated medical equipment at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, the agency said Friday.

That brings the total who have tested positive for hepatitis to 33.

They are among thousands tested because they were treated with endoscopic equipment that wasn't properly sterilized between patients and exposed them to the body fluids of others. The equipment is often used in colonoscopies and ear, nose and throat procedures.

Nearly 11,000 former sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines could have been exposed at the hospitals in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga.

5th HIV Case Linked To VA Equipment

Related Stories:
April 24, 2009: VA Reports 4th HIV Case
March 26, 2009: 10 VA Patients Have Viral Infections
March 11, 2009: VA Denies Hepatitis Results
January 8, 2009: Valve Problem Cited In Colonoscopy Issue
January 8, 2009: VA Volunteer Calls Hospital Tools Dirty