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VA Contacting Veterans Who Received Prostate Biopsies
Some veterans who received prostate biopsies between 1997 and 2001 at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities in 11 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico may have been treated with improperly disinfected instruments, according to VA officials.
Although the VA has not received any reports of patients being harmed, the department is notifying all veterans who were treated by the equipment called "a prostate biopsy transducer."
The equipment in question was used at the following facilities: District of Columbia; Iowa City, Iowa; Togus, Maine; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Fort Harrison and Miles City, Montana; Las Vegas, Nevada; Buffalo and Canandaigua, New York; Cincinnati, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Portland, Oregon; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Memphis, Murfreesboro and Nashville, Tennessee; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
VA inspectors found that the equipment used for the prostate biopsies was being cleaned and disinfected after each procedure, but some equipment was not being scrubbed by a brush after each use. Improperly scrubbed equipment carries a small risk of exposing patients to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
VA medical centers are notifying veterans who have had prostate biopsies encouraging them to be tested for possible infections.
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How do you find out this was done? Does someone do it on purpose then someone turns them in? How can it be over such a long period of time and no one knows. How would the veteran know about this in order to turn it in as a problem, he is not the one using the instrument, at least i hope not.
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You would think they might have someone reviewing these records on a daily or at least monthly basis, it should not take them 4 years to find out they are not using sterile instruments... I forgot it is the VA.
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It appears to be more than just a scope, 4 years to catch the problem. The VA does have good care but we are also test patients for them, that can be good and bad depending on your condition. I think i would rather have them messing with my knee, but not having a problem with either one is better.
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I thought most VA. hospitals were attached to medical schools I guess it depends on the area. Long Beach VA uses UC Irvine Medical staff and LA. VA uses UCLA medical as it's main source. The thing that surprises me is that the VA. has experimental programs, yet does not have all the updated equipment and drugs, must be the cost factor.
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Veteran's get baseline blood work documented at the VA...
See about including a comprehensive consult with a Veterans group advocate to find out your rights..
Make sure you have an EKG and Ultra sound done on Heart and cadiovascular system for future referance..
Cardio Myopathy can be detected in the early stages, even young men and women can be affected because of exposure to agents known and unknown..
Severe blood syndromes are increasing in Veteran's, do not take my words lightly..
Cancers are also a factor in the lives of veterans...Stats are hard to get a handle on, but thru Advocate personal and sometimes county Veteran servce programs you can find out things the VA will not tell you.
Writing from expieriance on the points above..
Civilians with no military involement should also pay attention to this thread...Industry can and does create many of the same type of health problems encountered by returning Vets.
This very serious buisness folks...Lives can be saved by just a little bit of a heads up.
Join in and and keep this thread going, this thread is probably the most important thread on Allstocks..
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i guess i was lucky. the va notified me that computer files containing the personal data on millions of veterans, including me, were compromised by one of their employees. i personally would not trust the va to have any medical work done - too many horror stories.
-------------------- I'm from Missouri - Show Me!
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dusty, i appreciate the loyalty you have to the va and and glad that you received excellent care there. i did not say the va was completely bad mor was i implying negligence on the part of doctors or other personel. my personal choice is not to use the va and i have the right to express that opinion, like choosing a chevy over a ford or vice versa. sorry i touched on a nerve this am.
-------------------- I'm from Missouri - Show Me!
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dusty what i am saying is that both va and private sectors are comparable and problems that each sector has gets magnified to some extent. every individual has the duty to himself to choose the medical care which he is most comfortable with. dyodd applies to healthcare too. personally, in this case, i sincerely hope that you are right in this matter for the sake of our brother veterans.
-------------------- I'm from Missouri - Show Me!
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It is all well and good for all of the Vets who have a high enough disability rating to get care in the VA fcilities, but AS FOR ME!!!!!! I have only a 10% rating and am shunned by the VA and it's facilities.
You may have good luck with them, BUT I HAVE NOT AS OF YET had any luck in getting a service connected disability even looked at by the VA.
The care provided may be good, but the ability for the hospitals near me to schedule me for an appointment let alone give me help, is abismall.
I understand that my bum knee is nothing compared to the injuries of the troops returning from war, but the problem I have will not be addressed by the VA. I have tried numerous times and been stonewalled.
Each person has their own experiences with the VA, mine has been very UN-encouraging and frustrating. 5 years since my injury and date of separation, yet I have been seen once for my initial eval, and that is it. Even with trying to be seen for it, there has been little to no help given.
-------------------- COMMUNICATION CAUSES LEARNING!!!!!
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I missed the a lot of these comments. This is why i posted this i had a hunch we have problems going on in different areas. It is very important for us to stay on elected officials to allocate more money to the VA health care. With all these troops coming back from the wars and veterans living longer we can not cut back funding to the VA, it needs to be increased. JF Glass Works there many a lot of options to your problem but without knowing the particulars its hard to know what will work the best. The disability would not help you technically speaking if it was not related to the leg. I would start at the hospital and talk to the person that handles problems with care and then work upward from there. I would also try another VA hospital if one is close. Any questions contact me at my PM box. I would also question a 10% rating on a claim in many cases if you get a 10% claim you probably deserved a higher rating but did not take it to the next level, hope that is not the case, of course you can always re-open a claim if needed.
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I have gone through every person I can contact.
My knee was injured while in AF, was given 0% service connected for it, then 5 years later I re-injure the knee. It is Worker's Comp right now, but the moment this is done, since I am 28 and have arthritis in my knee, I have to go through the year long process of submitting all my medical records to the VA from the past 5 years and petition to have my rating re-evaluated. I should be, by the regs, be getting at least 60% disability/month and be able to be seen at a VA hospital.
I will be contacting my county VA reps again, but they told me that I need to submit my form with my evidence and then wait... typical.
Now that I think about it, I am really going to have to call them. This injury is a degradation of a service connected diability. If I am unable to return to work when workers comp cuts me off and the VA hasn't done anything yet, then I will be screwed. I need to make sure NOW that I am not going to be left out to hang by the state or the gov't. There should be a way that I can get the VA working on this now, or an expedited way to get this seen.
iwish, I can't pm, but if you can, could you send yer email cause I got a few Q's indeed!!!!
-------------------- COMMUNICATION CAUSES LEARNING!!!!!
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Check your PM i am having trouble sending from my E-Mail so i sent first reply in your PM. i can receive my E-Mail's just no sending at this time.
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Glass, I'm sure someone has already suggested this but if you have someone from DAV or VFW assist you they can move things along and act as an advocate for you. If you're not already a member there is a $25 membership fee for DAV (that's what it was in '02 when I used them)
-------------------- All post are my opinion. Do your own DD. Who's clicking your buy/sell button!?
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This is how our Government supports our troops? Shameless.
quote:Originally posted by JF Glass Works: It is all well and good for all of the Vets who have a high enough disability rating to get care in the VA fcilities, but AS FOR ME!!!!!! I have only a 10% rating and am shunned by the VA and it's facilities.
You may have good luck with them, BUT I HAVE NOT AS OF YET had any luck in getting a service connected disability even looked at by the VA.
The care provided may be good, but the ability for the hospitals near me to schedule me for an appointment let alone give me help, is abismall.
I understand that my bum knee is nothing compared to the injuries of the troops returning from war, but the problem I have will not be addressed by the VA. I have tried numerous times and been stonewalled.
Each person has their own experiences with the VA, mine has been very UN-encouraging and frustrating. 5 years since my injury and date of separation, yet I have been seen once for my initial eval, and that is it. Even with trying to be seen for it, there has been little to no help given.
-------------------- "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
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If you decide to use these service organizations to handle your claims it is a good idea to 1. Research your claim so as you have some idea how it should be handled...if you can. 2. Call around to different service organizations and ask them questions about your claim find someone you feel is competent enough to handle it and also someone you are comfortable with, much like choosing a lawyer, remember you are signing over the power of attorney to him. 3. Check with the VA that will be handling your claim and get an estimate on how long it is taking in processing claims (time it will take to look at claim) and if you are not hearing from your service representative after a period of time go to their office and check how your claim is doing. 4. If you noticed the other post on the VA, there is legislation to allow lawyers to also handle more claims for veterans there is a reason that some veterans want this option and the article is written by a service organization they do not want to lose veterans funds to lawyers because these service organizations rely heavily on veterans to keep these organizations going and even though they are non profit organizations some individuals make very good money. That is to not to say they should not handle your claims some people are very satisfied with them and some are not, that's why you need to be selective if this is the way you choose to go.
As far as the issue on veterans not getting care at VA hospitals i have not heard of this till it was brought up here there might be isolated cases or even mistakes that can be corrected let me know if i can help, hopefully JF Glass Works case is getting straightened out i have not heard in awhile remember if you are having a problem at a VA hospital start by contacting the patient advocate at the hospital you have chose they can usually straighten it out.
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WISH, couldn't answer your PM, the return feature has been turned off.. As soon as the Doc's release me to fly, I'll be heading to Hawaii on buisness/recreation, we will be looking for a fixer upper on the Big Island to purchase, already have a good renter..'Way to busy these days in the market and other ventures to be posting, so won't be around the board much if any.. I've done my best I could for Allstocks, posting dozens of very good stock picks for both investment grade holding, as well as many runners, time for me to move on, this board has become more of a liability to me than a positive,,, take care dude...
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Hope you decide to come back and post, remember there was a saying back in those earlier years when things got ugly and we said it Don't Mean Nothing, this is just a place to play take care of your business and especially your health good luck and hope to see you posting soon.
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