Government Healthcare: VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV

[FrankRep]

VA hospital may have infected 1,800 veterans with HIV (http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/va.hospital.hiv/index.html)


CNN
June 30, 2010


A Missouri VA hospital is under fire because it may have exposed more than 1,800 veterans to life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis and HIV.

John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis has recently mailed letters to 1,812 veterans telling them they could contract hepatitis B, hepatitis C and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after visiting the medical center for dental work, said Rep. Russ Carnahan.

Carnahan said Tuesday he is calling for a investigation into the issue and has sent a letter to President Obama about it.

"This is absolutely unacceptable," said Carnahan, a Democrat from Missouri. "No veteran who has served and risked their life for this great nation should have to worry about their personal safety when receiving much needed healthcare services from a Veterans Administration hospital."

The issue stems from a failure to clean dental instruments properly, the hospital told CNN affiliate KSDK.
...

"I can only imagine the horror and anger our veterans must be feeling after receiving this letter," Carnahan said. "They have every right to be angry. So am I."
...


SOURCE:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/30/va.hospital.hiv/index.html

[MelissaWV]

Deja vu.

This has been happening all too often lately, and I doubt it's confined to VA Hospitals (it just seems that more of the inept workers work at VA Hospitals).

[FrankRep]

Flashback:



The Department of Veterans Affairs is at the center of a growing controversy over the improper treatment of veterans at VA hospitals; if government treats its veterans this poorly, it will surely not be responsive to the needs of those in a public insurance plan such as proposed by President Obama. By Steven J. Dubord


VA Hospitals Botching Medical Treatments (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/health-care/1292)


The New American
25 June 2009


The Department of Veterans Affairs is at the center of a growing controversy over the improper treatment of veterans at VA hospitals. On June 16, CNN noted (http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/16/veterans.colonoscopies/) that a report released in June by the VA’s Office of Inspector General showed only “about 42.5 percent of 42 VA facilities inspected without warning in May had standard operating procedures in place for the equipment being used and could demonstrate that their staffs had been trained to use the devices.” In other words, more than half of the institutions (57.5 percent) had improper procedures or training.

This would explain why a previous study found that more than 10,000 veterans who underwent routine colonoscopy procedures at four VA hospitals in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee had possibly been exposed to hepatitis and HIV viruses. Fifty-three of these veterans have so far tested positive for either hepatitis or HIV. Though some of them could have been infected in other ways, the improper cleaning procedures used with the colonoscopy equipment does point the finger of blame toward the VA hospitals.

On June 24, FOXNews.com reported (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/24/critics-push-abc-obama-health-care-special/) that the American Legion, which regularly visits and inspects VA hospitals, is investigating a different scandal at the medical center in Philadelphia. Joe Wilson, deputy director of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission for the American Legion, says that doctors at the Philadelphia center gave 92 out of 116 veterans incorrect dosages of radiation for prostate cancer over a span of six years. The physicians responsible for the repeated mistakes were finally discovered and fired last year, but that may be small comfort for those 92 veterans.

VA officials have responded with regret and vowed to do better. CNN quoted Dr. William Duncan, the VA’s associate deputy undersecretary for health quality and safety, as saying, “I cannot guarantee to any veteran that they will not have an adverse event occur in our facility. I can guarantee that we are dedicated to reducing those adverse events to the lowest possible level and we take this extremely seriously.” Representative Tim Walz (D-Minn.) was not satisfied: “I know we talk about adverse events, but going in for a routine colonoscopy and later being told you have HIV is not just an adverse event. That’s absolutely catastrophic.”

The American Legion’s Wilson told FOXNews.com that lack of oversight and poor funding are part of the problem. “The average age of VA facilities is about 49 years,” Wilson said. “That's too old. In the private sector the average age of facilities is about 12 years.” The Philadelphia medical center is 57 years old. Too often the limited funding that is available must go to repairs and maintenance. The Philadelphia incidents, though, were primarily the result of physicians being improperly trained and supervised. The New York Times reported (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/health/21radiation.html?_r=1) on June 20 that one doctor, Gary Kao, not only failed to report the errors he was making, he rewrote his surgical plans to cover up his mistakes.

America’s veterans deserve much better than this. But with government in charge and largely left to police itself, improvements in care may be hard to sustain. It is strange, then, that President Barack Obama wants to subject all Americans to a government-run, public healthcare plan when the VA scandals prove that government is certainly not the best provider of healthcare. If this is how the federal government treats those who have sacrificed life and limb for their country, imagine how responsive it will be to the average American in need of treatment.


SOURCE:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/health-care/1292

[bobbyw24]

Doen't bode well for Obamacare

[FrankRep]

http://www.votervoice.net/Files/JBS/Images/JBSemailheader.jpg (http://www.jbs.org/)



Email Congress!!
Please Sign Rep. Steve King's Discharge Petition to Vote on Repealing the Health Care Reform Law
http://www.votervoice.net/Groups/JBS/Advocacy/?IssueID=22401&SiteID=-1


Force the House to Vote on Repealing ObamaCare! (http://www.jbs.org/component/content/article/1009-commentary/6376-force-the-house-to-vote-on-repealing-obamacare)


Larry Greenley | John Birch Society (http://www.jbs.org/)
Tuesday, 29 June 2010


Immediately after ObamaCare was passed into law back in March, many representatives and senators introduced repeal ObamaCare bills, including Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). Those bills are now in limbo in various congressional committees and will never see the light of day, much less come to a vote, unless further action is taken.

Rep. King has taken that further step to keep the pressure on Congress to repeal ObamaCare by introducing a “discharge petition,” otherwise known as a “Motion to Discharge a Committee from the Consideration of a resolution.” If 218 members of the House can be persuaded to sign this petition, then King’s bill “To repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” H.R. 4972, would bypass any committee action or House leadership vetoes and be sent to the House floor for a vote.

Here is the only provision in King’s bill, which shows it is simply a bill to repeal the ObamaCare law entirely:



SECTION 1. REPEAL OF PPACA.

Effective as of the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [ObamaCare], such Act is repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted.


We all know that President Obama would veto any such bill; however, the idea is to force both Republicans and Democrats in the House to take a stand on repealing ObamaCare now, while they are in the midst of campaigning for the fall elections. Such a vote would put the Republicans and Democrats on record regarding simple repeal of the entire ObamaCare law.

Click here (http://clerk.house.gov/111/lrc/pd/petitions/Dis11.htm) to see King’s discharge petition, 111-11, and to see who has signed it so far. Progress toward the necessary 218 signatures has been excellent in recent days. The first day of the discharge petition, June 16, King and two others signed. Then, one signed on June 22, eight signed on June 23, 18 on June 24, and 22 yesterday on June 29. So, momentum is building nicely with a total of 52 signers so far.

Look at the list of signers. If your representative is not already a signer or if you're not sure who your rep is, click here (http://www.votervoice.net/Groups/JBS/Advocacy/?IssueID=22401&SiteID=-1) to contact him or her now and request that they sign Rep. King's discharge petition to force a vote on repealing ObamaCare.

Repealing ObamaCare is essential to taking back our country!


SOURCE:
http://www.jbs.org/component/content/article/1009-commentary/6376-force-the-house-to-vote-on-repealing-obamacare

[MelissaWV]

Doen't bode well for Obamacare

Well, there's nothing more equal than EVERYONE having HIV or Hepatitis....