Posted on 01/14/2013 5:44:48 AM PST by Doogle
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- According to a memo obtained by 2 On Your Side, hundreds of local veterans may have been exposed to HIV or Hepatitis B or C at the Buffalo VA Medical Center, due to a mistake made at the facility.
The memo says the agency found some insulin pens that should have been used once, but that may have been used for multiple patients.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency is informing about 550 people in Western New York who may've been infected. The patients are being asked to have a blood test to make sure they're okay. The VA says that there's a small chance these patients could've been exposed.
The VA is contacting everyone who was injected there with insulin pens at the facility between Oct. 19, 2010 and Nov. 1, 2012.
The VA has informed Congress of the problem.
"Unfortunately, from the day that new technology was introduced at the VA they did not have a protocol in place that let the nurses know they were not supposed to use the cartridge on more than one patient," said U.S. Rep. Chris Collins (R - 27th District).
(Excerpt) Read more at wgrz.com ...
I am NOT a nurse......nor do i portray one on tv, but some things are just so basic.....if a needle goes through your skin, it should not be used to go through anyone else`s skin......oh yeah and WASH YOUR HANDS!
I spoke to a fellow vet who got a notice. They told him it was the finger prick blood test device that was used on multiple patients without disposing of the lancet tip.
As a lab rat, let me just say, nurses should not be doing point of care testing. They do not have lab instincts to prevent name/ tests mixups, no experience correlating labs to diagnosis.. and take a lot of shortcuts. Not all nurses, but a lot of RNs now are associate level and lack the thorough training of BSRNs. I work with great nurses of both levels, I also work with many who mislabel and shortcut lab specimens. It is not their place to do this, but boy can POC add to the bill. No offense to any nurse on the board.. I could never, ever do nursing in any way, shape or form.
Of course NO one will get fired. You can’t possibly fire a gov. worker. Other than that not too much to worry about. HIV doesn’t cause AIDs so if your healthy, and have an intact immune system and don’t do drugs, you’ll be just fine. As for Hep C, all patientsd have the same life span whether they are treated or not. Most just receive steroids. I wouldn’t worry too much.
How stupid are those nurses!!? Fire them and let the lawsuits reap the damages these vets are due.
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