VA Hospital Warns Colonoscopy Patients About Unclean Equipment

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Improperly sterilized colonoscopy equipment was used on more than 3,000 patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Miami. The patients have been told they should be tested for HIV and other diseases.

The incident involved tubing on equipment, not any device that touched a patient, and the risk of infection is minimal, according to the VA, the Associated Press reported.

This have been similar problems recently. In February, more than 6,000 colonoscopy patients at a VA clinic in Tennessee were told they may have been exposed to infectious body fluids.

And 1,800 veterans treated at an ear, nose and throat clinic in Augusta, Ga., were warned they may have been exposed to an infection due to improper disinfection of an instrument, the AP reported.

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Anonymous

Welcome to government run healthcare. The VA is a mess and has been for years. We need to find a better way to provide health care to veterans, because it's shameful that this is how they're treated.

March 25, 2009 - 9:20am