Thousands Possibly Exposed to Hepatitis and HIV During Procedures at South Florida Veterans Affairs Facility

Thousands of veterans who received colonoscopies at a Miami-area Veterans Affairs facility may have contracted hepatitis or HIV from contaminated medical equipment used during the procedures, officials said.

This week, the VA sent letters to 3,260 people who had colonoscopies at the Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System between May 2004 and March 12, 2009. In the letters, VA officials said they have learned that tubing used in endoscope procedures was rinsed but not disinfected, increasing the risk of disease or infection being passed between patients.

More than 2,600 people responded to the letter and VA officials checked out more than 350 patients. Another 600 people will be given additional examinations at newly opened “special care clinics” designed to test veterans who received the notice and to provide additional information about the outbreak.

Meanwhile, Florida lawmakers Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (D-Fla.) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) have called for an official inquiry of the incidents by the VA’s inspector general.

Other VA Problems Reported

The most recent problems at the Miami VA facility are just the latest in a recent string of such incidents involving contaminated medical equipment being suspected of spreading infection and disease.

In December 2008, similar problems were uncovered at a VA clinic in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. An investigation at that facility found that employees were switching out parts of colonoscopy equipment that were not supposed to be switched out, officials said. In that case, about 6,000 people who had undergone colonoscopies using the improper techniques were notified and offered free testing for infection.

Recent problems also were reported at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. Officials there recently notified 1,200 veterans that they may have been exposed to infection when undergoing ear, nose and throat (ENT) procedures between January and November of 2008.

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