The fallout from the discovery of improperly processed endoscopy equipment at 3 Veterans Affairs healthcare facilities continues this month, with one lawmaker calling for hearings on the matter and the nation’s largest tissue bank suspending the use of donations from anyone who’s undergone colonoscopy or endoscopy in the past 4 months.
In a statement last month, Virginia-based tissue procurement and donation organization LifeNet Health said it was making the following change to its screening criteria for tissue donors: "If a potential donor has had a colonoscopy and/or endoscopy within 4 months prior to death then there will be a deferral for all tissues." A spokeswoman for the nonprofit organization said the decision was based on several recent reports of improperly processed equipment, not just those stemming from the VA facilities.
Earlier this year, the VA discovered that endoscopy equipment had been improperly cleaned or assembled in 3 different VA clinics in Miami, August, Ga., and Murfreesboro, Tenn. More than 11,224 veterans have been notified that they were exposed and urged to be tested for HIV and hepatitis B and C. Tests of veterans who were treated at the Miami facility alone have yielded 3 positive HIV diagnoses, as well as 7 positive tests for hepatitis C and one for hepatitis B.
But about a quarter of Miami patients who were notified of their exposure have yet to be tested, compared with 6 percent in Georgia, and 5 percent in Tennessee. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., has asked Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Danial Akaka, D-Hawaii, to hold hearings on the lack of response among Miami vets.
Meanwhile, Mary D. Berrocal, director of the Miami VA Healthcare System, told AP this week that she’s taken steps, including hiring someone to supervise training and ensure biomedical equipment works properly, to "make sure that this is an isolated situation" at the Miami facility.
—Irene Tsikitas
