Dentist reused needles!

From Denver comes the news no dental patient wants to hear: an oral surgeon may have put thousands of patients at risk of HIV and hepatitis by reusing syringes and needles.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is attempting to contact 8,000 patients who saw Dr. Stephen Stein at two of his clinics between September 1999 and June 2011.
In that time, according to a department statement, “Syringes and needles were re-used for multiple patients to give intravenous medications, including sedation.” Those instruments were “used repeatedly, often days at a time.”
Since blood can stay in a syringe and needle after an injection, health officials said, that creates a risk of spreading blood-borne illnesses such as HIV and hepatitis if the implements are reused. Those who received IV medications are being urged to get tested for those viruses.
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The Denver Post reported state health director Dr. Chris Urbina said that as patients get tested, no infections have been reported yet. Stein’s license to practice medicine was suspended in 2011 due to an unrelated matter that hasn’t been disclosed

Reading that made me feel queasy. What a horrid thing to do. And shame on his staff. There had to be at least one or two assistants who saw this happening. Or who were actually the ones setting up the treatment trays with these old needles.

This destroys the illusion of trust that we give to professionals to first do no harm.

I remember the big controversy in the Bergalis case here in Florida (where else) when the young woman was intentionally infected by a dentist. Of course here family speared on an Anita Hill type campaign to make all health care professionals be tested for HIV (which is an ineffective waste and unnecessary invasion of privacy).

Still, you never know what kind of uncaring incompetent or sociopath to whom you are giving your trust.

Yeah, I read about this. Very creepy.

I wonder if he at least sterilized them. In the '70s we reused needles at the free clinic I worked at in India but we put them thru a sterilizer between uses.

Third world medicine is scary (even tho I went thru surgery in India - apparently successfully).

As Jim and I were traveling thru Eastern Turkey, we needed to get a typhus shot to go into into Iran. Took our yellow international vaccine cards to a health clinic in the small town. They drew up the vaccine and gave Jim his shot, using half the amount and before I even realized what they were doing they stuck me with the other half of the syringe on the same spike.

They should hang him by his balls.

That's terrible. Any health professional should know better.....at the very least. In NY, they have a program where they give free needles to people who need to use them. They even give the needles to drug addicts.