Air Force Al Udeid Air Base Hep and HIV Exposure?

Air Force: 135 Patients May Have Been Exposed to HIV, Hepatitis
Military.com
by Oriana Pawlyk
20 Jun 2017

The Air Force said patients with questions or concerns may reach out to their healthcare resolution specialist at the following contacts: U.S. Eastern Daylight time zone or outside the continental U.S.: (937) 656-3818; U.S. Pacific or Mountain time zone, Hawaii, or Alaska: (707) 423-3443; and Central time zone: (228) 376-5603.

FILE -- Air Force doctors perform a diagnostic procedure on a patient. (Air Force File Image)

The U.S. Air Force is notifying 135 patients who received colonoscopy or endoscopy procedures at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar that they may have been exposed to blood-borne diseases such as HIV or hepatitis.

Air Force Medical Services announced Tuesday that scopes used for the upper and lower gastrointestinal procedures over an eight-year-period from April 2008 and April 2016 at the base clinic were not properly cleaned in accordance with Food and Drug Administration guidelines, Office of the Air Force Surgeon General spokeswoman Larine Barr told Military.com on Wednesday.

As a result, patients could have been exposed to possible viral infections that include human immunodeficiency virus, known as HIV, "and two kinds of Hepatitis (B and C)," Barr said. "The risk of infection is very small, particularly in a deployed environment, but we recommend that patients receive diagnostic testing," she said in an email.
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“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

Unreliable tests were substituted for colonoscopies at Texas VA

VA hospital wait time concerns spread to South Texas
Associated Press
Published: May 12, 2014

AUSTIN, Texas — Concerns about scheduling practices at veterans' hospitals in Central Texas and San Antonio have spread to the Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.

A former top official at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Harlingen told investigators that unreliable tests were substituted for colonoscopies, according to documents obtained by the Austin American-Statesman. The closest VA provider who performed colonoscopies was four hours from Harlingen, and the VA did not want to pay to provide them closer, Dr. Richard Krugman, former associate chief of staff at the hospital, told investigators.

"Patient care was impacted by the VA's requirements to cut costs," Krugman said.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is investigating scheduling practices at its hospitals in Texas as part of a nationwide audit of access to care. A whistleblower at San Antonio's North Central Federal Clinic, Brian Turner, said he and other clerks were instructed to manipulate scheduling data so it appeared there were no wait times.
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Why should you get a colonoscopy?

Why should you get a colonoscopy?
Wounded Times Blog
Kathie Costos
July 3, 2013

This has not been a fun couple of weeks for me. Every year around July, I take care of my health. A couple of weeks ago it was getting a mammogram. Turns out there was something strange going on so they wanted me to come back for another one plus an ultrasound. It happened a couple of years ago, so I wasn't too worried about it.

Monday I had both tests done and it turned out to be just my body being a bit freaky. I celebrated with a huge glass of wine.

Yesterday it was yet another day of misery getting ready for a colonoscopy today. I kept putting it off because of the stuff you have to drink to flush everything out. NOT FUN AT ALL. Most of the day I was either in the bathroom or laying down. I couldn't eat but what surprised me was, I wasn't hungry at all.

This morning, bright and early my husband drove me to Florida hospital in Altamonte so that I could be there by 6:00 to check in. That followed a series of forms to fill out and some great nurses taking my mind off what was coming. As soon as the medication went into the tube, I was out. I woke up in another room and that was when my husband gave me the news. There were four polyps. The doctor told him they looked benign but he wouldn't be sure until he got the report back.

On the way home there were two things on my mind. One was getting something to eat. The more pressing thing was thinking about if I had not had it done. What would have happened? Would I have found out too late there was something wrong?

I kept putting it off finding excuses for something I just didn't want to do. I wasn't having any health problems in that area so putting it off was easy. Now I am glad I did.

If you doctor tells you to go for a colonoscopy, go! It is better to discover you are healthy and don't have to worry for ten more years than to discover you waited too long. I was miserable yesterday and to tell the truth, not feeling much better yet but oh so happy to put up with all of this than something much worse.

First VA colonoscopy trial begins in Miami

First VA colonoscopy trial begins in Miami


A trial began Monday on behalf of a U.S. Air Force veteran from Coral Gables who is claiming millions in damages, claiming he contracted life-threatening hepatitis C from a colonoscopy done with improperly cleaned equipment at the Veterans Administration
BY FRED TASKER

FTASKER@MIAMIHERALD.COM

Air Force veteran Robert Metzler says his life is ruined. His attorney says Metzler, of Coral Gables, faces a future of exhaustion, loss of sexual companionship and the threat of cirrhosis or liver cancer. But the lawyer defending the Veterans Administration says Metzler might be cured of the underlying condition, hepatitis C, within a year.

Those were the sharply contrasting opening statements presented in Miami federal court Monday in a medical malpractice case filed against the VA. It’s the first such case that has gone to trial after some 11,000 U.S. military vets learned that the colonoscopies they had at three VA hospitals, including Miami’s, were performed with improperly cleaned equipment.


Read more: First VA colonoscopy trial begins in Miami

Nashville Veteran Says He Cannot Trust VA For Healthcare

Nashville Veteran Says He Cannot Trust VA For Healthcare
Cindy Carter
Walter McRae no longer trusts his government. "I feel like the government saying has turned their back on anybody that's in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam or anywhere else. They turned their back on them and they've let the veteran's down," McRae said.

The former Marine is upset because the Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro is one of several VA hospitals under fire for exposing patients to dirty instruments.

McRae has relied on the Murfreesboro hospital for years to take care of his medical needs which included a colonoscopy. Then it was discovered that 10,000 veterans might have been exposed to HIV and other infections because equipment used for colonoscopies in Murfreesboro and other clinics wasn't property sterilized.

"They (Alvin C. York) sent me a letter stating what had taken place and they wanted me to come out and be tested," McRae said.

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VA says 3 positive HIV tests from follow-ups

VA says 3 positive HIV tests from follow-ups

By Bill Poovey - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Apr 17, 2009 19:57:17 EDT

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Three patients exposed to contaminated medical equipment at Veterans Affairs hospitals have tested positive for HIV, the agency said Friday.

Initial tests show one patient each from VA medical facilities in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Augusta, Ga.; and Miami has the virus that causes AIDS, according to a VA statement.

The three cases included one positive HIV test reported earlier this month, but the VA didn’t identify the facility involved at the time.

The patients are among more than 10,000 getting tested because they were treated with endoscopic equipment that wasn’t properly sterilized and exposed them to other people’s body fluids.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_Veterans_Colonoscopie041709/

Possible contamination at VA facilities sparks call for inquiry

Possible contamination at VA facilities sparks call for inquiry
Story Highlights
Contaminated colonoscopy gear may have exposed Florida veterans to hepatitis, HIV

Florida lawmakers seek inquiry, raise concerns about other facilities

VA sent letters to people who may have had colonoscopies May 2004 to this month

Officials say tubing was rinsed but not disinfected, call risk of infection minimal
From Jennifer Pifer Bixler, Elizabeth Cohen and Sabriya Rice
CNN

(CNN) -- Thousands of veterans in South Florida may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV because of contaminated equipment after getting colonoscopies at the Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, officials announced Monday.

Two Florida lawmakers are asking for an inspector general's inquiry.

"The VA is a model of the type of health care we provide our veterans, and when mistakes like this occur, it undermines the efficacy of the entire system," said Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Florida, in a news release. Meek, along with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, is requesting an official inquiry by the inspector general of the VA.

In a letter to retired Gen. Eric Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, Nelson said he is also concerned about possible contaminated equipment at facilities in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Augusta, Georgia.
go here for more
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/24/florida.va.facilities/index.html