Possible contamination at VA medical facilities under investigation
The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an investigation into whether there is a connection between improperly sterilized endoscopy equipment and a veteran’s positive HIV test, CNN reports.
This comes after more than 10,000 veterans were possibly exposed to HIV and hepatitis at three VA facilities while undergoing colonoscopies and other procedures with equipment that had not been properly cleaned. The VA sent letters to those veterans offering free testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.
Along with the positive HIV test, the VA says 16 other veterans have tested positive for hepatitis B and hepatitis C at two VA facilities. Of all the 17 positive test results, 11 were at the VA’s Murfreesboro, Tennessee, facility, and six were from the VA’s Augusta, Georgia, hospital. Thousands of other veterans are being tested at the VA hospital in Miami, and the VA says it is waiting to verify results there.
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Are you kidding me? This sounds like something that might happen in the poorest clinics of the world. These guys risk their lives and then are repaid like this? Another Walter Reed in the making. How about really treating military people with true respect rather than just paying lipservice and coming out with cliches as most people do?