Wrong
Valve May Have Caused
Infections
Posted: Feb 10, 2009
06:04 PM EST
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=9822458
MURFREESBORO,
Tenn. - Over
6,400 veterans will
be notified of a
possible risk of
infection, after a
valve used for
colonoscopies was
determined to be
faulty.
Officials with
the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs
said thousands of
Tennesseans will
soon get a letter
urging them to see
their doctor.
A medical
procedure apparently
was not performed
correctly. In
December, doctors
and nurses noticed
the wrong valve on
the tubing used in
colonoscopies.
Thousands of
procedures are
performed at the
medical facility
each year.
"It's an
irrigation tube that
feeds water during a
colonoscopy. The
incorrect valve
allows for two way
flow. The correct
tube allows for one
way flow," said
Chris Conklin with
the Dept. of
Veterans Affairs.
VA doctors said
the two-way flow
could cause backflow
issues which cause
infections in
patients.
"We cannot
identify when this
tube valve
combination came
into our facility,"
said Conklin.
Letters will go
out to all 6,400
people who had
colonoscopies
performed at the
facility between
2003 and 2008. The
letter will advise
patients of the
valve issue and
offer free infection
screenings.
"It's very
disturbing that this
has gone on for five
years. To me, that
needs to be
addressed," said
veteran Bob Washsko
from Franklin.
Washsko of
Franklin said the
matter warrants an
investigation, but
he did appreciate
the proactive
approach taken by
the VA.
"The staff are
dedicated people and
dedicated to the
veterans," he said.
Officials said
none of the
colonoscopy patients
have complained
about any symptoms,
but to be safe, they
would like everyone
who receives one of
these letters to
schedule a screening
to make sure all is
well.
The Department of
Veterans Affairs has
set up a special
hotline to make
appointments and
provide information.
That number is
877-345-8555.
VA
mum extent of equipment
contamination
By Bill Poovey - The
Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar
26, 2009 19:40:17 EDT
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. —
Thousands of military
veterans across the
South are waiting to
find out if they were
exposed to infectious
diseases by government
clinics that performed
colonoscopies and other
procedures with
equipment that wasn’t
properly sterilized.
Veterans Affairs
officials won’t say if
mistakes that may have
exposed patients to
infections at medical
centers in Tennessee and
Florida and a clinic in
Georgia have been
discovered elsewhere.
The VA recently
warned veterans who had
colonoscopies as far
back as five years ago
at its hospitals in
Murfreesboro, Tenn., and
Miami that they may have
been exposed to the body
fluids of other patients
and should undergo tests
to make sure they
haven’t contracted
serious illnesses.
“What if you had to
worry about giving your
wife AIDS?” said
52-year-old Wayne Craig,
a Navy veteran who lives
in Elora and had a
colonoscopy at the VA’s
Alvin C. York Medical
Center in Murfreesboro,
near Nashville, about
five years ago. “Why
haven’t I been notified
within five years?”
The VA declined to
answer four Associated
Press requests over the
past week about the
results of what the
department described as
a nationwide procedure
and training review that
was to end March 14. VA
spokeswoman Laurie
Tranter said the
department planned to
issue a response later
Thursday.
The review of all VA
medical centers and
outpatient clinics
followed reports in
February that the
department discovered
“improperly reprocessed”
endoscopic equipment
used for colonoscopies
in Murfreesboro and ear,
nose and throat exams in
Augusta, Ga.
Just this week, the
VA acknowledged problems
at a facility in Miami,
too.
Veteran Gary Simpson,
57, of Spring City had a
colonoscopy at the
Murfreesboro clinic in
2007. He said his blood
has tested negative for
HIV and hepatitis, but
he’s still worried
because a nurse told him
some diseases don’t show
up for seven years.
“He talks about it
every day,” said his
wife, Janice. “It has
really messed with him a
lot. It is just too
disturbing.”
Nashville lawyer Mike
Sheppard said his firm
is preparing to file
claims on behalf of up
to 15 colonoscopy
patients, including
several who have since
tested positive for
hepatitis B. He said an
elderly man who had
cancer when he had a
colonoscopy died shortly
afterward.
“We are investigating
the death,” Sheppard
said.
According to a VA
e-mail, only about half
of the Murfreesboro and
Augusta patients
notified by letter of a
mistake that exposed
them to “potentially
infectious fluids” have
requested appointments
for follow-up blood
tests offered by the
department.
In February, the VA
said it sent letters
offering the tests to
about 6,400 patients who
had colonoscopies
between April 23, 2003,
and Dec. 1, 2008, at
Murfreesboro and to
about 1,800 patients
treated over 11 months
last year at Augusta.
The VA has now sent
letters advising 3,260
patients who had
colonoscopies between
May 2004 and March 12 at
the Miami Veterans
Affairs Healthcare
System that they also
should get tests for
HIV, hepatitis and other
infectious diseases.
That revelation
prompted two Florida
lawmakers to demand an
investigation by the VA
Office of Inspector
General.
The VA has declined
an AP request for an
explanation of why the
time periods during
which exposure could
have occurred varied at
the three locations.
Janice Simpson said
an employee in U.S. Rep.
Zach Wamp’s office in
Chattanooga told her
that the blood test
notices sent to
colonoscopy patients of
the Murfreesboro clinic
were timed to the date
of a procedure on a
patient with AIDS. A
spokeswoman for Wamp
said Simpson was
mistaken.
The VA did say in an
April 19 e-mail to AP
that at the VA’s
Murfreesboro colonoscopy
facility “one of the
tubes used for
irrigation during the
procedure had an
incorrect valve.” The
statement also said
“tubing attached to the
scope was processed at
the end of each day
instead of between each
patient as required by
the manufacturer’s
instructions.”
The VA letter to
Craig said he “could
have been exposed to
body fluids from a
previous patient.” Craig
said his follow-up test
did not show any
infection.
He said he thinks the
VA was saving money by
not cleaning the tubing
between its use on each
patient.
“What if this was a
public hospital?” said
Craig, who has six
grandchildren. “There’s
no reason in the world a
veteran can’t file a
suit against a veteran
hospital the same as a
public hospital. This is
veterans you are talking
about.”
