A New York hospital alerted 10 patients last week that they may have been exposed to bloodborne pathogens from improperly sterilized surgical trays. The incident comes amid a state legislator's push to toughen sanctions on reckless and negligent practices that expose patients to bloodborne diseases.
Democratic Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski of New City, N.Y., recently introduced legislation that would criminalize the act of "reckless infection of a patient with a communicable disease by a health care provider," making it a felony in New York. The law would apply to "reckless conduct such as the reuse of a syringe, needle or other sharp."
Mr. Zebrowski's late father was believed to have contracted hepatitis C from a tainted blood transfusion he received during surgery in the 1970s. The assemblyman introduced the bill after it was announced in January that at least 229 patients treated at the state-run Rockland Psychiatric Center had potentially been exposed to bloodborne pathogens through shared lancing devices used to obtain blood samples.
That infection scare was followed up by the news last week that 10 patients who underwent surgery at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, N.Y., in January were to be tested for hepatitis B and C and HIV because hospital officials 9 surgical trays hadn't been properly sterilized.
"There's no reason why anyone should get hepatitis today through a medical procedure," says Mr. Zebrowski. "It just shouldn't happen."
Irene Tsikitas
