716 patients at VA may have been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis

716 patients at VA may have been exposed to HIV
Buffalo News
BY: JERRY ZREMSKI
NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF

WASHINGTON – More than 700 patients at the Buffalo VA Medical Center may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C because of the inadvertent reuse of insulin pens that were intended to be used only once.

The possible reuse of the insulin delivery devices occurred between Oct. 19, 2010, and Nov. 1, 2012, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said in a memo sent Friday to local members of Congress, which The Buffalo News obtained.

“There is a very small chance that some patients could have been exposed to the Hepatitis B virus, the Hepatitis C virus, or HIV, based on practices identified at the facility,” the memo said.

The VA told local lawmakers that 716 patients at the facility may have been exposed to the reused insulin pens, and that 570 of those patients are still living.
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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

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 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/