VA Patient Tests Positive for HIV After Exposure to Contaminated Medical Equipment

A patient who was treated at a Veterans Affairs department medical facility has tested for HIV, the infection that causes AIDS, after being exposed to contaminated equipment, officials said.

VA facilities in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee previously have been linked to 16 cases of hepatitis in patients who received colonoscopies. Officials recently announced that medical equipment was rinsed off, but not sanitized, between procedures, potentially exposing thousands of patients to infections.

The newly confirmed case of HIV in a VA patient is the first such infection associated with the controversy over improper sanitary handling of medical equipment at the facilities.

Last month, VA officials sent warning letters to 1,200 veterans who had been treated at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia. The patients were told they may have been exposed to infections due to improper cleaning of equipment used in ear, nose, and throat procedures between January and November 2008.

The VA also notified 3,260 people who underwent colonoscopies at the Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System between May 2004 and March 12, 2009, who may have been exposed to unsanitary medical equipment.

More than 10,000 veterans have been offered free medical exams and tests to determine if they had contracted hepatitis, HIV, or other infections following treatments at the VA facilities.

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