VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV

VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV

www.cnn.com...

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.

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 30-6-2010 by monkeySEEmonkeyDO]

[edit on 30-6-2010 by monkeySEEmonkeyDO]



[mod edit: fixed source link and formatting]

[edit on 30-6-2010 by 12m8keall2c]

What a SLAP IN THE FACE! These poor men and women placed their lives on the line for this country, and the hospital that is supposed to heal their war wounds, possibly gave them HIV.... WOW...

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

If this is true, I am about to get bashed very hard for what I am about to say.

This was done on purpose.


It's no secret that the people in the financial part of the VA really want to see these guys die off before they run up huge bills. I knew a guy that said that he overheard a receptionist and doctor discussing such things, as well as seen it myself.

reply to post by monkeySEEmonkeyDO

'
The good news is, that these people at least got letters telling them of the possibilites for infection. It wasn't just swept under the carpet. The fact that it happened at all is frightening.

I can only imagine what it must be like for these people to sit and wonder if they contracted some horrible disease because they went to a dentist!

They'll just scapegoat a few worn out guys and receive lots of money to damage control. Business as usual.

I find it hard to believe that this was an accident, especially since it went on for over a year.

Sounds like another Tuskegee to me.


I think the only reason they said anything at all is because someone found out. Every single one of those vets should sue and demand that those responsible be brought up on some kind of charges. People risk their lives to serve their country and this is the type of treatment they receive, dispicable.

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.

I don't understand how handwashing them before putting them in the cleaning machines caused this problem. Wouldn't the machines still sterilize them even if they were hand washed ? If there is someone in the medical proffession here maybe you could explain this ?

Unless they handwashed them and reused them on other patients before placing them in the machines.

www.cnn.com...

And people wanted to the government to step in for "health care reform". Yikes. You see how the guys who actually put their asses on the line people are getting treated, what makes you think they are going to treat the average tax payer any better?

Originally posted by chise61
I find it hard to believe that this was an accident, especially since it went on for over a year.

Sounds like another Tuskegee to me.


I think the only reason they said anything at all is because someone found out. Every single one of those vets should sue and demand that those responsible be brought up on some kind of charges. People risk their lives to serve their country and this is the type of treatment they receive, dispicable.

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.

I don't understand how handwashing them before putting them in the cleaning machines caused this problem. Wouldn't the machines still sterilize them even if they were hand washed ? If there is someone in the medical proffession here maybe you could explain this ?

Unless they handwashed them and reused them on other patients before placing them in the machines.

www.cnn.com...

I don't get this either. So they hand washed them before sterilization, big deal. Correct me if I'm wrong but HIV has a very difficult time surviving outside the body. For an instrument which was in the mouth of one patient to be washed then sterilized, shouldn't it be good to go? They say you can't get HIV from kissing another with the disease so what gives? I call B.S sensationalism distractor.

[edit on 30-6-2010 by The Undertaker]

[edit on 30-6-2010 by The Undertaker]

Wow.

This should end up the highest value lawsuit of all time.

These guys should all end up with more money than Buffet, Gates, and Branson combined.

This is really just shocking, and I have to agree that it's just not feasible as an "accident".

If I were affiliated with this hospital in any way, I'd make myself real scarce, real quick.

This is wrong on so many levels.

Is there no end to this mess? If these good people had been on the "system" aka getting a handout for probably doing nothing let alone serving their country you can BET they would be scrambling to help them out!

It's an outrage and an embarrassment to hear how Vets in general are treated by their own.

They should be fully tested to insure their health and immediately be upgraded to the same sort of level of "care" that O and his thugs are privy to.
AND their familes should also be ofered every available level of support "in case" the worst comes to be true and they have contracted a horrible illness.

They should be taken care of for life IMO...

Being a patient at the VA, this is the type of thing that has often worried me. If you are a patient at the VA, don't hype this up when you go see the docs there. If you express any concern about "accidentally" picking up a nasty bug from the VA hospital, they will send you over to mental health for a new crazy pill. That's what happened to me.

Originally posted by tamusan
Being a patient at the VA, this is the type of thing that has often worried me. If you are a patient at the VA, don't hype this up when you go see the docs there. If you express any concern about "accidentally" picking up a nasty bug from the VA hospital, they will send you over to mental health for a new crazy pill. That's what happened to me.

Wow, sounds like your story should be in a movie. Insane. What exactly happened?

Welcome to government run healthcare. You guys wanted it, this is what will be the norm when you have government stooges hired through affirmative action or some other lackey quota system playing with your health.

Dam......

They get through boot camp, war and the VA get em....

This is sick and a complete affront to what these vets did for their country. In this day and age this sort of thing should be unheard of!

It look like a twisted trick from God.

--oh you wanna try helping each other without me ? Take that...*

and it's not the first time:archives.cbc.ca...

reply to post by monkeySEEmonkeyDO

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

link

Insert expletive here __ !

exposed more than 1,800 veterans to life-threatening diseases

A lengthy prison sentence for the dental technicians involved.

Surely this is Dentistry 101 ........ unbelievable !

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Well if one had any previous misgiving about using a VA medical centre , i can only imagine the anxieties this will cause current patients.

*Sarcasm on*

Why are all of you upset over some HIV infected Vets.

I mean, Obama sure isn't worried about people like that.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Oh, and I'm glad to see that, once again, the VA has been given top priority in the treatment of Vets.

*Sarcasm off*



[edit on 30-6-2010 by signal2noise]

What do they call the guy who graduated at the bottom of his class in med school? Doctor!

Most VAs also operate as teaching schools. I've noticed a lot of foreign students in these classes over the years. Many of the doctors are arrogant and refuse to consider alternatives like diet and exercise over prescription drugs. They don't consult your records and treat you like an idiot when you tell them you don't want a particular medication.

For example, I told my doctor that I drink a beer every night and occasionally have more than one drink. It is for this reason that I don't take tylenol. Two weeks later, I get two bottles of 100 count 500mg Tylenol in the mail for pain. It's like they're the Stepford doctors, they just run on autopilot.

reply to post by Happyfeet


Giving them a chronic disease, especially HIV, is going to be very very expensive, more so probably than keeping them healthy. And 1,800 is not going to do a thing as far as overall costs.