In Dublin, GA, the Carl Vinson Veterans Administration Medical Center admitted some patients tested positive for infections such as hepatitis or HIV due to filthy equipment.
WALB spoke to Rachel Heath, whose father Larry Heath received a letter from the center about the incident.
Heath served in Vietnam. He “received treatment for Agent Orange maladies, along with cancer, heart attack, and stroke.”
“Pure devastation,” said Rachel Heath. “Sick to my stomach. Sadness.”
The letter went out to 4,594 veteran patients who “possibly could have been infected and urged them to be tested for two types of hepatitis and HIV.”
The center claimed it has a rigorous cleaning regimen for reusable equipment. An internal review discovered “that there may have been times when all the steps necessary for complete and safe cleaning or sterilization were not followed.”
Officials sent the letter to veterans “who had a dentistry, endoscopy, urology, podiatry, optometry, or surgery procedure” during the time with dirty equipment:
Cleaning that is not complete could possibly lead to infection. Dublin VA staff and clinical experts have reviewed the care given to all patients in the last year who had procedures during this time to determine who might have been potentially exposed to any infectious diseases as a result of this. We are confident that the risk of infectious diseases is very low. For your own reassurance, however, you may wish to be tested for infections like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. Testing is not required. However, we are making optional testing available to you to alleviate any concerns you may have.
Rachel Heath continued: “This is an outrage. That it’s 2022 and veterans are still being treated like this. For negligence.”
Larry had tests done, but he won’t know his results for a few weeks.
Dr. Manuel Davila, the Carl Vinson Medical Center medical director, admitted one member reported that staff did not follow all the cleaning steps:
“So people have tested positive so far?” medical director, Dr. Manuel Davila said. “Well, at this point, I don’t know the number, but yes. Absolutely.”Now more testing is being done, although the medical center says the risk of infection is very low.—The medical center has brought in another sterilization team from the Augusta VA Hospital, while the Carl Vinson staff is being re-trained. Officials want to reassure their patients.“And it certainly a tremendous honor for us to serve our veterans. Because they have given so much, for us. And we certainly want to give them all that we can as well. And that needs to be no compromise on safety. Zero harm. That’s our goal,” Dr. Davila said.
Will any administration clean up the VA? Rachel Heath said her family has “been very disappointed with their treatment since the 1980s at Carl Vinson.”
We try to cover any VA scandal that comes to light. Our veterans deserve better.
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