Nearly 600 patients who received dental care at a Wisconsin Veterans Affairs medical center may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B and C and now face an anxious wait to find out if they were infected. Earlier this week, officials said a dentist at the Tomah VA Medical Center improperly re-used his own dental equipment instead of using the sterilized, disposable tools as VA rules require.
“It was purposeful that he was violating VA regulations,” said Victoria Brahm, acting medical director at the Tomah VA Center in a press briefing earlier this week. “During all of the orientation, he used our equipment. He used it appropriately, so it was very purposeful from what we found in our investigation that he knew exactly what he was doing, and preferred to use his own equipment against procedure.” READ MORE
After my time in the Marine Corps I spent 13 years in the VA system for treatment of combat wounds, exposure to Agent Orange and PTSD. The care I received was extremely sub-standard but since my conditions were from military service no private insurance company would accept me. After that 13 year period I married and were it not for my wife’s ability to get me picked up by the health insurance through her work I honestly believe I wouldn’t be alive now. The more articles I read similar to the one above, the more certain I am that my life would not have turned out as well as it has. SEMPER FIDELIS, Jyrine