House Committee Tries to Rectify Harm Done By VA Hospitals

Johnson City, Tenn.—Twenty-six veterans from Middle Tennessee have contracted either Hepatitus B, Hepatitis C, or HIV. One common link - they received colonoscopy procedures at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Murfeesburo.
    About twenty-five more veterans contracted infections after similar procedures at the VA hospitals in Augusta, Ga., and Miami.
    Today, the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Veterans Affairs met with the VA’s Inspector General’s office to discuss what happened, and how to move on.
    11 Connects spoke with Congressman Phil Roe about the VA at mountain Home in Johnson City. He assured us that the facility is now following guidelines as they should.
    The VA in Johnson City didn’t have problems with their colonoscopes, but they did have issues with not following proper protocall of sterilizing mouth and throat scopes.
    These scopes have a much lower chance of spreading any disease.
    “They notified me,“ said Roe, “They notified the patients who had been affected by this, tested these folks and they found no one positive of any problems.“
    The chances of transmission of infection are low, and even lower for HIV, but as Rep. Roe told 11 Connects, “That’s not an excuse to not do it right.“

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