Contaminated Medical Equipment Cases Keeping Malpractice Lawyers Busy
On the heels of the Hepatitis B contamination crisis at a New Jersey clinic and the Nevada clinic Hepatitis C scandal, comes another incidence of medical malpractice at a South Dakota urology clinic that could have exposed patients to Hepatitis B, C, and HIV.
This month, the Siouxland Urology Center sent a letter to patients asking them to visit the clinic for free testing of HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases that could have been contracted by the use of contaminated medical equipment at the center. Now, five residents of Iowa have filed a class action lawsuit against the Siouxland Urology Center and its owners. The clinic is in Dakota Dunes, on the South Dakota - Iowa border.
Last week, the South Dakota Department of Health stated that it identified a possible risk for infection from cystoscopy procedures performed at the facility. A survey of the center revealed that staff used saline solution bags and other single use products on more than one patient before discarding them. According to the Health Department, it has not identified any blood borne infections due to the lack of safe medical practices at the facility.
What is frightening is that the center admitted that since it opened in 2002, more than 5,000 cystoscopy procedures have been performed at the facility.
Inviting patients who you could have exposed to dangerous, possibly deadly diseases by your own negligence, for "free testing" is a like closing the stable gates after the horses are out. These infectious diseases have no known and permanent cure. Patients who contract these diseases can only maintain a lifestyle that keeps symptoms under control. It is appalling that the six doctors who owned the Siouxland Urology Center failed to stop the negligent medical practice of reusing disposable medical equipment. That is the kind of negligence you might expect from a jungle clinic in a Third World country, not from a specialty medical center in the U.S.
Siouxland Urology Center has challenged the health department's statement that using bladder exam equipment on more than one patient can expose them to the risk of disease.
Medical Malpractice
Medical injury attorneys often come across instances in which health care professionals who have been accused of malpractice, continue to remain in a state of denial even when their negligence has been exposed.
If you or a loved one has been infected with a dangerous disease or injured by the negligence of a doctor or clinic, a medical injury attorney can help you find the resources you need to recover.
Contact a medical malpractice attorney, at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.
For many years I have said that the blood pressure cuff used from patient to patient with no regard for it being clean was a factor in cross contamination. ALL the research on this topic vindicates my assumption.
I am sure many hospital acquired infections can be traced to a contaminated cuff even long after the patient was discharged- no one cleaned them!