“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

Florida Veteran will sue VA over HIV

Fla. veteran says he is HIV+, will sue VA

The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 18, 2009 18:56:21 EDT

MIAMI — A South Florida man, who claims he contracted HIV during an endoscopic colonoscopy at a Miami Department of Veterans Affairs hospital, has filed a notice that he will sue the federal government

Juan Rivera, 55, an Army veteran, claims he contracted HIV during the procedure on or about May 19, 2008. Rivera said he had been tested twice and both times he was positive for the disease. He served in the Army from 1979 to 1989.

Ira Leesfield, an attorney for Rivera, said the notice is necessary under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Rivera has to give the federal government six months before he files a federal lawsuit. Leesfield said this lawsuit will be filed against the VA through the United States of America. He added the claim states Rivera will sue for $20 million in damages.
Fla. veteran says he is HIV will sue VA

Two veterans think they are the link to the VA and spread of HIV

This veteran contacted the lawyer dealing with the law suits against the VA. The kicker here is that there is another veteran also thinking he was the source. That makes two veterans suffering because they think they are to blame for this, but the truth is, the VA should have done a better job.

Nashville Vet Could Have Spread HIV
Man Says He Always Told Health Care Workers Of Virus
Reported By Nancy Amons

POSTED: 4:37 pm CDT July 28, 2009

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- A Nashville veteran who had a colonoscopy there says he feels a heavy burden knowing he could have spread HIV infection to others.

Yet, he said, his conscience is clear because he did all he could to warn the Veterans Administration about his status.

Ron Hereford said his lifestyle 20 years ago contributed to his contraction of HIV. But now he wonders if his HIV made other veterans sick.
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http://www.wsmv.com/health/20205835/detail.html

Vets affected by VA hospital errors to file claims

Vets affected by VA hospital errors to file claims
Monday, July 27, 2009 2:34:30 PM

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.(AP)

An attorney is preparing to ask the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to pay disability benefits and damages for hospital mistakes that may have exposed veterans to infectious body fluids _ a complaint that he said could ultimately multiply into many more such demands.

The attorney, Mike Sheppard of Nashville, said he is preparing to file claims with the VA for about 60 veterans, including three women.

Among them are veterans who have tested positive for HIV and hepatitis and others who suffered emotional distress after the VA provided them with initial positive blood tests for infections that turned out to be wrong.

Sheppard also said other veterans among the roughly 10,000 affected former patients at VA hospitals in Murfreesboro, Tenn., Miami and Augusta, Ga., are likely to seek compensation beyond the VA's offer of free medical care.
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Vets affected by VA hospital errors to file claims

VA patients hope for real answers on contamination at hospitals

If you are not a veteran, do you ever wonder how they don't get totally fed up with all they have to go thru after their service in the military is over? None of this is fair and it certainly isn't something any of us would ever want to put up with if we were them. The last few years, every time I hear a politician talk about how important our veterans are, I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach because of reports like this.

VA patients hope for real answers
Congress to address contamination at hospitals
By Clay Carey THE TENNESSEAN • and Bill Theobald TENNESSEAN WASHINGTON BUREAU • June 15, 2009
Walter McRae wants to hear the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs tell him it is sorry.

He wants its highest-ranking officials to say they're doing something to make sure veterans who turn to the government for medical treatment aren't being exposed to dirty equipment, the way he may have been six years ago.

And he wants to know that those problems aren't going to make him sick someday.

McRae and other veterans may begin getting some answers Tuesday, when a congressional committee finds out what VA investigators have learned since the chilling discovery of problems with endoscopic exams at Murfreesboro's Alvin C. York Medical Center and other agency hospitals.
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VA patients hope for real answers

VA recommended more than 10,000 former VA patients to get blood tests

Mistakes at VA to be scrutinized by panel
5 patients tested positive for HIV and 39 for hepatitis after exposure

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A congressional panel will question Department of Veterans Affairs officials about mistakes that put patients at risk of possible exposure to HIV and other infectious body fluids at three VA hospitals.

The VA recommended more than 10,000 former VA patients in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Augusta, Ga., get follow-up blood checks. Five have tested positive for HIV and 39 have tested positive for hepatitis.

The U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs oversight and investigations subcommittee has set a June 16 hearing in Washington to look into what caused the problems and what the VA has done to fix them. The VA's inspector general is currently investigating.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31001407/

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.

go here for more of this

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

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/