Nevada Endoscopy Center Patients Warned of HIV and Hepatitis Risk

Important HIV and Hepatitis information for patients of Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada.

The Southern Nevada Health District alerted patients that had received injected anesthesia medicine during medical procedures at the Endoscopy Center of Nevada, located at 700 Shadow Lane, of high risk exposure and possible contraction of Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, HIV and other possible blood borne diseases. All people that had procedures between March 2004 and January 11, 2008 and instructed to seek medical attention from their doctors or health care providers immediately to be tested for infection.

Important Questions and Answers for patients that had procedures at this medical center and believe they are at risk of exposure:

Q: Why are people being asked to get tested?

A: The health district was advised of 6 Hepatitis cases, of which 5 have had medical procedures involving anesthesia injections. The CDC and Health District, after investigation, reported that unsafe injection practices of an anesthetic may have exposed patients to the blood of other patients.

Q: How were patients exposed?

A: A syringe (not a needle) used on a patient was used again on the same person to draw additional medication. The re-drawing of medicine using the same syringe could infect the vial from where the medicine was taken from the patient. The vial, not identified for use on multiple people, was reused for another patient. If the vial was infected with the blood of the first person, it is possible that the vial could have been exposed to blood borne pathogens.

Q: How many people may be affected?

A: it is unknown how many people will contract Hepatitis, HIV or other blood diseases but it is estimated that some 40,000 patients are at risk.

 

 

If you or a loved one has had a medical procedure at this center or have been notified by healthcare professionals or believe you may be at risk for exposure and contraction of Hepatitis, HIV or any other blood disease from unsafe injection practices at The Endoscopy Center of Nevada, contact us today. 1-888-775-3779

 

 

 

 

The Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada issued the following statement:

“On behalf of the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, we want to express our deep concern about this incident to the many patients who have put their trust in us over the years. As always, our patients remain our primary responsibility and we have already corrected the situation.”

“The recent events related to the Southern Nevada Health District study mark the first time anything like this has ever happened at our facility. We have already taken steps to ensure that it will never happen again.”

“The health district began its investigation in January, and we have been fully cooperating with them. We were officially notified by the health district on February 6, 2008 and submitted our detailed Plan of Correction on February 15, 2008. All concerns noted by the health department were addressed immediately. We continue to work closely with the Southern Nevada Health District and other health agencies during this ongoing review. We want to be sure that every patient who may have been exposed is informed and tested.”

“To help us with these issues, we have engaged the services of nationally renowned experts who have extensive epidemiological experience and that have worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control in the past. They include Dr. Janine Jason, CEO of Jason and Jarvis Associates. She is a Harvard Medical School-trained physician, epidemiologist, and immunologist who served as a medical scientist and senior epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and was on the Emory Medical School faculty for 23 years prior to becoming a private consultant. Dr. Jason has authored more than a hundred peer-reviewed medical and epidemiologic scientific articles.”

“In addition to our corrective actions, we are on a mission to maintain the trust our patients have had in us during our years of service to southern Nevada.”

“We wish to emphasize that the actual risk of anyone being affected by this is extremely low, but as a precaution, anyone who has undergone procedures at the Endoscopy Center who required anesthesia should be tested.”

“As I’m sure you understand this situation brings with it a number of complex elements including patient privacy and regulatory guidelines. At this time, our counsel has asked that we limit our comments to this statement, and we are unable to take questions.”

Thank you.”

For additional information visit the website HERE

• Why is the health district making these recommendations?
• How were the cases discovered?
• Why did it take several months for this to come to the attention of the health district?
• How were patients exposed?
• How did you determine the link between these cases?
• What actions have been taken to correct the unsafe injection control practices?
• Who performed the investigation?
• Why is the health district also recommending testing for hepatitis B and HIV?
• How many people will be diagnosed with hepatitis C, B or HIV from this investigation?
• How serious are these illnesses?
• How many cases of hepatitis C are reported to the health district each year?
• What is the Southern Nevada Health District’s role in the response?
• As a patient how can I protect myself when getting these types of medical procedures?
• Are these types of medical procedures safe?
• What is being done to prevent this from happening again?
• What are the recommendations for people who test positive for hepatitis C, B or HIV?

Why is the health district making these recommendations?

• The health district received notification of three acute cases of hepatitis C in January 2008 and has identified a total of six cases to date. Five of the cases had procedures requiring injected anesthesia on the same day.
• Following a joint investigation with the Nevada State Bureau of Licensure and Certification (BLC) and with consultation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health district determined that unsafe injection practices related to the administration of anesthesia medication might have exposed patients to the blood of other patients.
• The exposures did not result from the medical procedures performed.

 

Drugs do not address the root cause of bedwetting

Drugs do not address the root cause of bedwetting: A deep sleep disorder.

If pills and nasal sprays are being used and show some effectiveness, once the drugs are discontinued, the bedwetting will resume. They are merely a temporary fix, and have many side effects. For 32 years, the Enuresis Treatment Center has successfully treated thousands of people from around the world by establishing a new and healthy pattern of sleep.

The Enuresis Treatment Center cures bedwetting without the use of drugs. Physicians bring their own children for treatment instead of subjecting them to drugs. The Enuresis Treatment Center has put together an informative guide to understanding and treating bedwetting.

This free bedwetting guide is available to download at www.freebedwettingguide.com.

Trasylol Recall Sooner Could have Saved 20k Lives

According to a medical researcher interviewed by CBS Television’s 60 Minutes program 22,000 patients could have been saved if U.S. regulators had been quicker to remove a Bayer AG drug Trasylol. Dr. Dennis Mangano, the study’s researcher, said during the program that 22,000 lives could have been saved if Trasylol had been taken off the market when he first published his study in January 2006, according to a CBS News report on its Web site ahead of a broadcast slated for next Sunday.

Read more about Trasylol Dangers at www.resource4trasylolinfo.com

Heparin Blood Thinner Maker Probed by US Health Officials

U.S. health officials plan to inspect a Chinese factory which could be the source of problems with the blood thinner heparin which is linked to allergic reactions and possibly four deaths.

The FDA announced that Baxter Healthcare Corporation has temporarily stopped manufacturing multiple-dose vials of the injectable blood-thinning drug heparin due to reports of serious allergic reactions and hypotension (low blood pressure) in patients who receive high “bolus” doses of the drug.

Serious reactions to the drug have included difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, excessive sweating, and rapidly falling blood pressure that can lead to life-threatening shock. Four people have died after receiving heparin, although the relationship to the drug is unclear.

This is not the first time the FDA has probed or recalled a Baxter Healthcare Corp. product.

In 2007 the Baxter Healthcare Corp. and FDA notified healthcare professionals and
consumers of a Class I Recall of Baxter Upgraded Colleauge Triple Channel Volumetric Infusion Pumps, Model numbers 2M8153, 2M8163, and 2M9163.

On April 28, 2006, Baxter Healthcare Corporation issued a warning in
conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its product known as the Baxter Healthcare Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pump.

At the end of 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Class I recall for the Baxter Meridian Hemodialysis Instrument. As the FDA Class I recall is the most serious issued.

Heparin sodium is derived from pig intestines and has been marketed in the United States since the 1930s. Millions of patients benefit from the intravenous administration of this drug every year to avoid potentially life-threatening blood clots in the veins, arteries, and lungs.

“FDA concurs with Baxter’s decision to halt manufacture of heparin sodium in multiple-dose vials,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., FDA’s deputy commissioner for scientific and medical programs, chief medical officer, and acting director of its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “FDA is vigorously investigating to determine the root cause of these serious reactions associated with the use of heparin made by Baxter. In the meantime, patients and health care professionals who cannot obtain alternative sources of heparin should use caution in administering any Baxter multiple-dose vials that remain.”

Heparin is commonly used before certain types of surgery, including coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and in kidney patients before they undergo dialysis. In some situations, heparin treatment is initiated using a high bolus dose given directly into the bloodstream (intravenously) over a short period of time, usually less than one hour. The reported adverse events occurred in patients who were given heparin in this form of administration. There are many other uses of heparin involving lower doses or administration over a longer period of time; adverse events have not been seen with those uses.

About 350 adverse events associated with the Baxter product have been reported since the end of last year compared to less than 100 reports in 2007. Most of the events have taken place at hemodialysis centers, almost exclusively involving patients receiving a bolus dose – which is a high dose administered over a short time. While most of the reports involve multiple-dose vials, several cases include patients who received a bolus dose after their health care professional combined heparin from single-dose vials.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services first notified the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in January of several severe allergic-type reactions to heparin that occurred at a single pediatric hospital beginning in November. The CDC in turn alerted FDA and Baxter, prompting the company’s voluntary recall of nine lots of heparin on Jan. 17.

Since then, FDA has learned of adverse events that extend beyond the recalled lots and involve patients receiving heparin for other purposes besides hemodialysis. Recent cases have included patients undergoing cardiac surgery and a specialized blood cell treatment known as photopheresis.

Over one million multiple-dose vials of heparin are sold per month in the United States; half of the vials are manufactured by Baxter of Deerfield, Ill. FDA is currently investigating whether similar events have been seen with other heparin manufacturers.

Physicians, dialysis center staff and health care providers are advised to use an alternate source of heparin or another blood-thinning drug when possible. When only Baxter product is available:

• Administer the heparin as an infusion (not a bolus) whenever possible.
• Use the lowest dose necessary at the slowest infusion rate acceptable to obtain the desired clinical effect.
• Closely monitor the patient for adverse events, particularly hypotension and signs and symptoms of hypersensitivity and ensure that resuscitation equipment is available.
• Consider pretreatment with corticosteroids (cortisone type medicines) or antihistamines (drugs that relieve the symptoms of allergic reactions) although it is not known if such pretreatment is effective.

Any allergic-type reaction to heparin infusion should be reported to FDA’s MedWatch Program by phone at 800-FDA-1088, by fax at 800-FDA-0178, by mail at MedWatch, HF-2, FDA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, M.D. 20852-9787, or on the MedWatch Web site at www.fda.gov/medwatch.

Promise for Detecting Lung Cancer

Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Procedure Shows Promise for Detecting Lung Cancer.
Use of a minimally invasive technique called endoscopy to detect lung cancer may be more effective than more complicated and invasive standard procedures.

These findings were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.Lung cancer is the most common cancer worldwide. There are three types of lung cancer: non–small cell, small cell, and mesothelioma. Non–small cell and small cell lung cancers are the most common types of lung cancer, whereas mesothelioma is a rare form of lung cancer that attacks the lining of the lung tissue.

Unfortunately, survival rates for lung cancer are low because the disease is often found once it has spread within the lung or to other organs. In an attempt to improve patient outcomes, a great deal of research has focused on lung cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment.

Daily Cancer News – CancerConsultants.com

Tags: lung, cancer, health, mesothelioma, asbestos,

Botox – Myobloc Warning by FDA

The FDA has reviewed cases from its Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) database and from the medical writing of child and adult patients diagnosed with botulism after a local injection with a marketed botulinum toxin product.

The pediatric botulism cases occurred in patients less than 16 years old, with reported symptoms ranging from dysphagia to respiratory insufficiency requiring gastric feeding tubes and ventilatory support. Serious outcomes included hospitalization and death. The most commonly reported use of botulinum toxin among these cases was treatment of limb muscle spasticity associated with cerebral palsy. For Botox, doses ranged from 6.25 to 32 Units/kilogram (U/kg) in these cases. For Myobloc, reported doses were from 388 to 625 U/kg.

The reports of adult botulism cases described symptoms including patients experiencing difficulty holding up their heads, dysphagia and ptosis. Some reports described systemic effects that occurred distant from the site of injection and included weakness and numbness of the lower extremities. Among the adult cases that were serious, including hospitalization, none required intubation or ventilatory support. No deaths were reported. The doses for Botox ranged from 100 to 700 Units and for Myobloc from 10,000 to 20,000 U.

This early communication is in keeping with FDA’s commitment to inform the public about its ongoing safety reviews of drugs. FDA will communicate to the public its conclusions, resulting recommendations, and any regulatory actions after the review of the data are completed.

Report serious adverse events to FDA’s MedWatch reporting system

Contact a Botox Lawyer

Avandia Lawyer – Diabetes Clinical Trial Halted Due to Deaths

February 7, 2008

The government announced Wednesday that the 10,000 patient ACCORD clinical trial involving diabetes treatment has been halted 18 months early due to increased risk of patients death. The trial was stopped after the Data Safety and Monitoring Board found that the rigorous treatment increased the patients’ risk of death by 25%.

The results bring into question the methods used of lowering blood sugar actually protects the heart and is very likely to call the safety of the diabetes drug Avandia into question, yet again.

Consumer Warning: Contaminated Dip

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –Lansing, MI — February 5, 2008
The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) today warned consumers to check their cupboards for Olivier brand Parmesan & Asiago Dip with Garlic & Basil because of the possibility of contamination with Clostridium botulinum. Olivier brand Parmesan & Asiago Dip with Garlic & Basil is manufactured by Olivier Olive Oil Products, Inc. of St. Helena, California, which has initiated a voluntary recall of the product.

Clostridium botulinum is a bacterium which can cause life-threatening illness or death. Symptoms of botulism include: general weakness, dizziness, double-vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing. Difficulty in breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distension and constipation may also be common symptoms. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention. There have been no reported illnesses.

The product was distributed to William-Sonoma retail stores nationwide and to Olivier Napa Valley retail stores located in Truckee and St. Helena, California. Olivier Parmesan & Asiago Dip with Garlic & Basil labeled with the following lot codes are affected by the recall: OPA 34171; OPA 23471; OAP 17271; OAP 17671; OAP 36061; OAP 36161; OPA 33961.The recalled product is packaged in an 11.76 ounce jar. The lot code information is located on the side of the glass jar where there is no label. Photos of the product are available at www.cdph.ca.gov.

Consumer Warning: Contaminated Dip

Tags: consumer, warning, fda, dip, recall, michigan

Evenflo Car Seat Recall – One Million Discovery Seats Recalled

About one million child safety seats made by Evenflo are being recalled because they could fail to protect children from vehicle side-impacts.The seats being recalled are Evenflo Discovery child safety seat models 390, 391, 534 and 552 made between April 2005 and January 29, 2008. The serial number and date of manufacture can be found on a white label on the underside of the safety seat.

Owners of the affected Discovery safety seats are urged to immediately contact Evenflo and receive a free dual-hook fastener that will secure the seat to its base. Parents should continue using the safety seats while waiting for their fasteners to arrive, said NHTSA.

NHTSA urges parents affected by the recall to contact Evenflo at 1-800-356-2229 between the hours of 8am and 5pm EST, or visit the Evenflo web site: http://safety.evenflo.com/cs/sc/cssc_RD.phtml.

Related Child Car Seat Recall Information