Through carelessness or the desire to save a few bucks, a doctor in New York has infected at least two people with Hepatitis-C, and put 628 more at risk:
In 2005, investigators found that, in violation of widely accepted practices recommended by the C.D.C., Dr. Finkelstein, 52, who specializes in pain management, was reusing syringes when drawing doses of medicine from vials that hold more than one dose.
He would use a new syringe for each patient. But when giving one patient more than one type of drug by injection, his practice of using the same syringe to draw medicine from more than one vial led to the potential contamination of the vials. The blood of a patient who was infected with hepatitis C could, by backing up through the syringe and entering the vials, infect another patient when the same vial of medicine was used again. This is what happened in at least one case, health officials said.
State health officials said yesterday they hoped to get the C.D.C.’s support in seeking the elimination of such multidose vials.
Any fix would come too late for Raymond Bookstaver, 49, a Hicksville mechanic who was one of two patients initially identified as having been infected by Dr. Finkelstein’s improper use of syringes.
“I feel like I went to a doctor for help, and what I got instead was a death sentence,” Mr. Bookstaver said. His hepatitis is being treated, but erupts unpredictably, causing him to suffer flulike symptoms including nausea, vomiting and aching that leaves him bedridden, he said.
Patients Were Not Told of Misuse of Syringes - New York Times
I deeply feel for doctors who try their best and still have an adverse outcome - especially if the outcome wasn't certain to begin with. But doctors like this deserve absolutely no protection from malpractice lawsuits. Of course, one might argue that the court system isn't the best choice to discipline incompetent doctors. Some argue that should be left to regulatory agencies. However:
"For reasons that were unclear yesterday, his case was not referred to the State Board for Professional Medical Conduct of the State Education Department until nine months after his unsafe practices were known."
Nine months went by? This is inexcusable. I don't want to hear the standard complaints about a heavy workload, or inadequate funding, or any other excuses regulatory agencies often make. (Hypocrisy alert: Ever notice how "reformers" tend to believe that private enterprise can do just about anything better than the government, but those same reformers don't want private enterprise to regulate businesses?) Oh well. At least they fixed the problem eventually, right?
"That agency, charged with taking disciplinary actions against doctors, found no evidence of wrongdoing, and recommended no disciplinary action.
In January 2005, the Health Department began an epidemiological investigation to determine how many of Dr. Finkelstein’s patients were infected by the vials of medicine that he had used more than once."
See why I don't trust governmental agencies to regulate doctors? (Or other businesses, for that matter.)
But wait! It gets even better:
"Michael Duffy, a lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice cases and vice president of the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, said that the long delay in notifying the 628 potential victims of Dr. Finkelstein’s practice was especially troubling because none would be able to seek damages in court."
Proof positive the system works: If you're an incompetent doctor, anyway.
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