A U.S. Senate committee will ask officials with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs how mistakes at three VA medical centers in the Southeast, including a clinic in Augusta, may have exposed veterans to infections such as HIV and hepatitis.
The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs has set a June 24 hearing for VA officials to explain how mistakes with endoscopic equipment possibly exposed patients to infectious body fluids in Augusta, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and Miami.
The committee's announcement comes shortly after a U.S. House of Representatives Veterans Affairs subcommittee announced it would hold its own hearing on June 16.
The VA has warned more than 10,000 former patients at the three medical centers to get follow-up blood checks. Five of the patients have tested positive for HIV so far, and 43 have tested positive for hepatitis.
In Augusta, the problem affected rhinoscopes in an ear, nose and throat clinic at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center. Officials in February said an employee improperly sterilized the rhinoscopes with disinfectant designed for exam tables instead of a stronger one specifically designed for the scopes.
A top doctor at the federal agency has stressed that the positive results for the diseases may not have come from hospital mistakes.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
U.S. Senators to Hold Hearings After Veterans Test Positive for Infections
