June 16, 2009
Report Confirms VA Endoscope Problem is Department-Wide
For more information, contact: Brian Lawrence (202) 225-3527
Washington, D.C. — Today, a disturbing report reveals that, despite earlier outrage on the issue, continued medical procedure failures at numerous Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities may have exposed veterans to infectious diseases.
VA’s Office of the Inspector General (IG) released its findings today during a House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation hearing on the report which was requested by Congressman Steve Buyer. Buyer, who serves as Ranking Member of House Committee on Veterans Affairs, requested a nationwide review of VA endoscope procedures upon learning that the VA Medical Center in Miami, Florida had potentially exposed over three thousand veterans to HIV, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C, during endoscopic procedures.
“I asked for the IG to become involved after the Miami incident, because I suspected the problem was systemic,” Buyer said. “Now that we know it is, I am deeply concerned that this problem is expansive and it goes well beyond VA. What is happening at HHS and the Department of Defense? What is happening in our greater health system?”
The IG report revealed multiple safety violations related to flexible endoscope reprocessing. Forty-two randomly selected VA facilities were visited to ensure employees are familiar with, and adherent to, proper equipment cleaning and reprocessing procedures. Twenty-two of the forty-two sites’ employees failed to illustrate proper knowledge and procedural compliance. The Subcommittee leaders, Chairman Harry Mitchell and Ranking Member Phil Roe M.D., demanded that VA immediately rectify the situation at all facilities via training and implementation of stringent procedures. They called upon the IG to perform a follow-up audit within ninety days.
“These numbers are alarming and unacceptable,” said Roe. “I am appalled that months after this issue first came to light, more than half of the sites visited were still not compliant with safety procedures. The safety of our nation’s veterans should be our top priority--failure to provide proper care for even one veteran, is a failure of our sacred trust. We must do better, and we will.”
“VA medical personnel have a moral obligation to provide the best possible health care to veterans,” Buyer said. “The results of this report lead me to wonder what other patient safety directives are being ignored. I expect VA to hold those who were negligent, including senior management, accountable for these egregious errors.”
“I also believe that VA should give the benefit of the doubt to any exposed veteran who is diagnosed with HIV or Hepatitis. The burden of proof should not be shifted to the veteran. VA did not follow its own protocols and procedures and may have put veterans at risk.”
For more news from House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Republicans, please go to:
http://www.republicans.veterans.house.gov/
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