Veterans At Risk of Hospital Acquired Infection
According to reports, a Miami VA hospital has announced that 2,400 veterans may have been exposed to HIV and/or hepatitis during their colonoscopies. The hospital also acknowledged that it failed to notify as many 79 of those patients of their potential exposure to infection. The use of unsterile or improperly cleaned medical equipment, are leading causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. Earlier this year, a VA hospital in St. Louis reported that as many as 2,000 patients may also have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis due to improperly cleaned dental equipment. In 2009, three VA hospitals in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia, admitted potentially exposing more than eleven thousand veterans to HIV and hepatitis. Of that number, three veterans subsequently tested positive for HIV, while eight others tested positive for hepatitis.
