Congressional subcommittee to hold VA hospital hearings again

[Guest guest]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html

Tuesday, 04.19.11

Congressional subcommittee to hold VA hospital hearings again

A congressional subcommittee will hold new hearings May 3 on VA hospitals,

including Miami’s, where veterans were treated with improperly cleaned

equipment.

By Fred Tasker

ftasker@...

A congressional subcommittee will hear testimony May 3 on lax sterilization

practices at Miami’s Veterans Administration hospital and four others that put

tens of thousands of veterans in danger of hepatitis and HIV infection.

The hearing, titled “Sacred Obligation: Restoring Veteran Trust and Patient

Safety,” was requested by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen after her visit to the

Miami VA facility March 23 with U.S. Reps. Frederica and .

“It is high time for this nightmare to conclude,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “I look

forward to participating in the hearing… so we can examine the travesty and

injustice committed against our nation’s veterans.”

The hearings, held by the House Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on

Veterans’ Affairs, will focus on VA problems in creating standardized cleaning

rules for medical equipment, limiting the activities of suspect medical

practitioners and notifying veteran patients who were potentially exposed to

infection.

The South Florida problem started in March 2009 when the VA told 2,400 local

veterans that the colonoscopies they had received at Miami’s VA hospital since

2004 might have been done with equipment that was rinsed instead of chemically

sterilized as required by the manufacturer. Similar problems in VA facilities in

Augusta, Ga., and Murfreesboro, Tenn., brought the total of potentially affected

veterans to more than 11,000 .

In July 2010, the VA announced it had identified 79 more South Florida veterans

not included in the 2009 notification due to errors in record keeping. In

February, it said it had identified 12 more veterans not notified.

Both the U.S. House and Senate held hearings in 2009 after the problem first

surfaced. But problems continued — not all veterans were notified as soon as the

VA became aware of the issue — and new problems came to light in Dayton, Ohio,

and St. Louis, Mo. At the Dayton VA hospital’s dental clinic in February, a

national VA investigation concluded that supervisors had taken little action

despite knowing for years that a clinic employee had reused dental equipment on

at least 535 patients without sterilizing it first.

At the St. Louis VA hospital, surgical procedures were suspended from Feb. 2 to

March 9 after surgical trays were found to be pitted with corrosion. It was the

second problem there in a year. Last year 1,812 patients were notified that

faulty sterilization of dental equipment potentially had exposed them to

hepatitis and HIV. No such infections have been reported.

Read more:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html\

#ixzz1KAOpDWTL

[Guest guest]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html

Tuesday, 04.19.11

Congressional subcommittee to hold VA hospital hearings again

A congressional subcommittee will hold new hearings May 3 on VA hospitals,

including Miami’s, where veterans were treated with improperly cleaned

equipment.

By Fred Tasker

ftasker@...

A congressional subcommittee will hear testimony May 3 on lax sterilization

practices at Miami’s Veterans Administration hospital and four others that put

tens of thousands of veterans in danger of hepatitis and HIV infection.

The hearing, titled “Sacred Obligation: Restoring Veteran Trust and Patient

Safety,” was requested by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen after her visit to the

Miami VA facility March 23 with U.S. Reps. Frederica and .

“It is high time for this nightmare to conclude,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “I look

forward to participating in the hearing… so we can examine the travesty and

injustice committed against our nation’s veterans.”

The hearings, held by the House Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on

Veterans’ Affairs, will focus on VA problems in creating standardized cleaning

rules for medical equipment, limiting the activities of suspect medical

practitioners and notifying veteran patients who were potentially exposed to

infection.

The South Florida problem started in March 2009 when the VA told 2,400 local

veterans that the colonoscopies they had received at Miami’s VA hospital since

2004 might have been done with equipment that was rinsed instead of chemically

sterilized as required by the manufacturer. Similar problems in VA facilities in

Augusta, Ga., and Murfreesboro, Tenn., brought the total of potentially affected

veterans to more than 11,000 .

In July 2010, the VA announced it had identified 79 more South Florida veterans

not included in the 2009 notification due to errors in record keeping. In

February, it said it had identified 12 more veterans not notified.

Both the U.S. House and Senate held hearings in 2009 after the problem first

surfaced. But problems continued — not all veterans were notified as soon as the

VA became aware of the issue — and new problems came to light in Dayton, Ohio,

and St. Louis, Mo. At the Dayton VA hospital’s dental clinic in February, a

national VA investigation concluded that supervisors had taken little action

despite knowing for years that a clinic employee had reused dental equipment on

at least 535 patients without sterilizing it first.

At the St. Louis VA hospital, surgical procedures were suspended from Feb. 2 to

March 9 after surgical trays were found to be pitted with corrosion. It was the

second problem there in a year. Last year 1,812 patients were notified that

faulty sterilization of dental equipment potentially had exposed them to

hepatitis and HIV. No such infections have been reported.

Read more:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html\

#ixzz1KAOpDWTL

[Guest guest]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html

Tuesday, 04.19.11

Congressional subcommittee to hold VA hospital hearings again

A congressional subcommittee will hold new hearings May 3 on VA hospitals,

including Miami’s, where veterans were treated with improperly cleaned

equipment.

By Fred Tasker

ftasker@...

A congressional subcommittee will hear testimony May 3 on lax sterilization

practices at Miami’s Veterans Administration hospital and four others that put

tens of thousands of veterans in danger of hepatitis and HIV infection.

The hearing, titled “Sacred Obligation: Restoring Veteran Trust and Patient

Safety,” was requested by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen after her visit to the

Miami VA facility March 23 with U.S. Reps. Frederica and .

“It is high time for this nightmare to conclude,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “I look

forward to participating in the hearing… so we can examine the travesty and

injustice committed against our nation’s veterans.”

The hearings, held by the House Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on

Veterans’ Affairs, will focus on VA problems in creating standardized cleaning

rules for medical equipment, limiting the activities of suspect medical

practitioners and notifying veteran patients who were potentially exposed to

infection.

The South Florida problem started in March 2009 when the VA told 2,400 local

veterans that the colonoscopies they had received at Miami’s VA hospital since

2004 might have been done with equipment that was rinsed instead of chemically

sterilized as required by the manufacturer. Similar problems in VA facilities in

Augusta, Ga., and Murfreesboro, Tenn., brought the total of potentially affected

veterans to more than 11,000 .

In July 2010, the VA announced it had identified 79 more South Florida veterans

not included in the 2009 notification due to errors in record keeping. In

February, it said it had identified 12 more veterans not notified.

Both the U.S. House and Senate held hearings in 2009 after the problem first

surfaced. But problems continued — not all veterans were notified as soon as the

VA became aware of the issue — and new problems came to light in Dayton, Ohio,

and St. Louis, Mo. At the Dayton VA hospital’s dental clinic in February, a

national VA investigation concluded that supervisors had taken little action

despite knowing for years that a clinic employee had reused dental equipment on

at least 535 patients without sterilizing it first.

At the St. Louis VA hospital, surgical procedures were suspended from Feb. 2 to

March 9 after surgical trays were found to be pitted with corrosion. It was the

second problem there in a year. Last year 1,812 patients were notified that

faulty sterilization of dental equipment potentially had exposed them to

hepatitis and HIV. No such infections have been reported.

Read more:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html\

#ixzz1KAOpDWTL

[Guest guest]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html

Tuesday, 04.19.11

Congressional subcommittee to hold VA hospital hearings again

A congressional subcommittee will hold new hearings May 3 on VA hospitals,

including Miami’s, where veterans were treated with improperly cleaned

equipment.

By Fred Tasker

ftasker@...

A congressional subcommittee will hear testimony May 3 on lax sterilization

practices at Miami’s Veterans Administration hospital and four others that put

tens of thousands of veterans in danger of hepatitis and HIV infection.

The hearing, titled “Sacred Obligation: Restoring Veteran Trust and Patient

Safety,” was requested by U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen after her visit to the

Miami VA facility March 23 with U.S. Reps. Frederica and .

“It is high time for this nightmare to conclude,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “I look

forward to participating in the hearing… so we can examine the travesty and

injustice committed against our nation’s veterans.”

The hearings, held by the House Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on

Veterans’ Affairs, will focus on VA problems in creating standardized cleaning

rules for medical equipment, limiting the activities of suspect medical

practitioners and notifying veteran patients who were potentially exposed to

infection.

The South Florida problem started in March 2009 when the VA told 2,400 local

veterans that the colonoscopies they had received at Miami’s VA hospital since

2004 might have been done with equipment that was rinsed instead of chemically

sterilized as required by the manufacturer. Similar problems in VA facilities in

Augusta, Ga., and Murfreesboro, Tenn., brought the total of potentially affected

veterans to more than 11,000 .

In July 2010, the VA announced it had identified 79 more South Florida veterans

not included in the 2009 notification due to errors in record keeping. In

February, it said it had identified 12 more veterans not notified.

Both the U.S. House and Senate held hearings in 2009 after the problem first

surfaced. But problems continued — not all veterans were notified as soon as the

VA became aware of the issue — and new problems came to light in Dayton, Ohio,

and St. Louis, Mo. At the Dayton VA hospital’s dental clinic in February, a

national VA investigation concluded that supervisors had taken little action

despite knowing for years that a clinic employee had reused dental equipment on

at least 535 patients without sterilizing it first.

At the St. Louis VA hospital, surgical procedures were suspended from Feb. 2 to

March 9 after surgical trays were found to be pitted with corrosion. It was the

second problem there in a year. Last year 1,812 patients were notified that

faulty sterilization of dental equipment potentially had exposed them to

hepatitis and HIV. No such infections have been reported.

Read more:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/19/2175304/congressional-subcommittee-to.html\

#ixzz1KAOpDWTL