- Hello Jeff - I have been corresponding with one of the
patient infected in Oklahoma.
- The person is not ready to come foward until the lawyers
can complete the legalities of her lawsuit.
- Sloppy (deadly) health care practicies must be addressed.
Remember last year (around August), I theorized that about one third of
the US population has been exposed to HCV. In the rest of the
- world...where there are even less stringent health infection
control measures, the numbers are much higher. Many people exposed are
now incubating the disease and are completely unaware they have it.
-
- I would caution people to at least, verify packages are
sealed when they get injections. We have to stop being so trusting of health
care professionals. If one needs to get blood drawn, ask to see the syringe
package prior to its being opened. It seems that with the advent of "managed"
care," the insurance companies are in charge of our health...and saving
money is more important then giving quality care. When having surgery,
people need to address their concerns with the anesthesiologist prior to
surgery.
-
- Frankly, I shudder to think about the sheer numbers of
HCV patients within the next five years. I think that HCV is going to "break
the back" of US health care and our hospital systems.
-
- HCV is going to be number one epidemic and the US is
woefully unprepared for what is to come. Believe me, when one enters the
mid-to-late stages of HCV they are unable to work full time. Many will
lose their health care coverage when they are no longer employed. The government
will be expected to pick up care for these people. We have a real crisis
and no one in either the health care profession or the government is even
talking about it.
-
- It appears that the latest effort to save money, and
the sloppy and lazy care offered by some health care givers, is going to
add to the crisis.
-
- Let's not forget: there is NO cure for this disease.
It seems that the pharmaceutical/industrial complex is not interested in
any medication other then interferon and combos thereof. These
- 'therapies' DO NOT WORK. Maybe some patients are helped
for a while, but the treatement is not a cure. Most do not respond to treatment
and any response is contingent upon which type of HCV the patient has.
-
- I cannot help but wonder if, or should i say WHEN, mass
smallpox and other biowar vaccines become mandatory, HCV will be spread
even more. In an effort to save money on the cost of mass vaccinations,
how many supplies will be reused?
-
- Patricia
-
-
- Major Hepatitis C Outbreak at Nebraska Clinic
-
- By Scott Bauer
- 11-20-2
-
- LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - At least 81 people treated at a
Nebraska cancer clinic have tested positive for hepatitis C in an outbreak
that may have been caused by a contaminated vial of medicine, health officials
said Tuesday.
-
- Dr. Tom Safranek, the state epidemiologist, said poor
medical practices at Dr. Tahir Javed's clinic in Fremont may be to blame.
-
- The patients, who were suffering from cancer or blood
disorders, were treated at the clinic in 2000 and 2001. Just before it
shut down last month, the clinic advised 612 patients to get tested and
nearly 500 did.
-
- It is possible that a clinic worker used a syringe to
administer medicine to a patient who had hepatitis C, then drew more medicine
from the same vial for the patient with the same syringe, Safranek said.
-
- Doing that would contaminate the rest of the medicine
in the vial, and infect other patients given the drug, he said.
-
- Medical charts are being examined, and current and past
employees of the clinic are being questioned by state health officials.
-
- Javed left the United States in July and returned to
his native Pakistan to attend to his ailing mother, Safranek said.
-
- State health officials were notified of the problem in
September by an Omaha doctor who had two patients with hepatitis C who
also were patients at Javed's clinic.
-
- In all, 485 people sought tests after receiving letters
from the clinic. Of the others, some chose not to be tested, others may
have been tested by their own doctors, and others died.
-
- The state said it was not aware of any deaths among the
patients with hepatitis C. Doctors said they do not know what effect the
virus would have on the clinic's already ailing patients.
-
- Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver and the
most common bloodborne infection in the United States. People who have
been infected may experience fatigue, loss of appetite and yellowing of
the skin. The virus can eventually lead to cirrhosis or cancer of the liver.
-
- Health officials are confident no other patients have
to be contacted because of changes made at the clinic in 2001, Safranek
said, declining to elaborate.
-
- In Oklahoma, a hepatitis C outbreak that infected more
than 50 people this year was blamed on a nurse anesthetist who told health
officials he reused needles and syringes.
-
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/emergingdiseases/index.shtml
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
-
-
- ADDITION
-
- From Patricia Doyle, PhD
- dr_p_doyle@hotmail.com
- 11-20-2
-
- Hello, Jeff - I would like to add to the following statements:
-
- The state said it was not aware of any deaths among the
patients with hepatitis C. Doctors said they do not know what effect the
virus would have on the clinic's already ailing patients.
-
- My comments are in caps:
-
- "The state was not aware of any deaths among patients
with hcv."
-
- WELL, THE PATIENTS WERE BEING TREATED FOR VARIOUS FORMS
OF CANCER AND I DOUBT THAT ANY TREATING PHYSICIANS TESTED THEM FOR HCV.
DEATH CERTIFICATES WOULD INCLUDE CAUSE OF DEATH AS CANCER-RELATED.
-
- ALSO, DOCTORS DO NOT KNOW WHAT EFFECT THE VIRUS WOULD
HAVE ON AILING PATIENTS? OF COURSE, PATIENTS WHO ARE ALREADY IMMUNE-SURPRESSED
WOULD HAVE RAPID PROGRESSION OF HCV AS WELL AS WORSENING OF THEIR ORIGINAL
ILLNESS. HOW CAN ANY DOCTOR MAKE SUCH A STATEMENT?? AND TAKING HARSH CANCER
MEDICATIONS (chemotherapy, etc) WOULD CAUSE EVEN MORE RAPID DETERIORATION
OF THE LIVER OF THOSE PATIENTS. THEN AGAIN, THEY CAN ALWAYS SAY THE PATIENTS
FROM 'COMPLICATIONS' OF CANCER.
-
- "Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver and
the most common bloodborne infection in the United States. People who have
been infected may experience fatigue, loss of appetite and yellowing of
the skin. The virus can eventually lead to cirrhosis or cancer of the liver."
-
- YES, HCV IS THE MOST COMMON BLOODBORNE INFECTION IN THE
US AND I AM SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT THEY ADMIT TO IT. THE SYMPTOMS MENTIONED
ARE ONLY SOME, THEY DID NOT INCLUDE THE MYRIAD OF SYMPTOMS THAT I AND OTHER
HCV SUFFERERS LIVE WITH EVERY DAY. ADD TO THAT THE HORRIFIC SYMPTOMS THAT
INTERFERON USERS SUFFER AND HCV IS BY FAR ONE OF THE WORST ILLNESSES TO
HAVE AND ONE THAT LEAVES PEOPLE IN MID AND LATE STAGES QUITE UNABLE TO
WORK OR LIVE LIFE NORMALLY. ADD TO THIS THE EFFECT ON THE OTHER ORGANS,
LIKE KIDNEYS, LUNGS AND HEART, ETC.
-
- My two cents.
- Patty
-
- Patricia A. Doyle, PhD
- Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message
board at:
- http://www.clickitnews.com/emergingdiseases/index.shtml
- Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa
- Go with God and in Good Health
|
