500 Dutch In HIV Scare -
Dirty Machines
By Adriana Stuijt
8-30-7

OSS/VEGHEL, The Netherlands -- Some 500 Dutch patients may have been infected with HIV or Hepatitis
because of 'design faults in new disinfection-machinery', reports the "Brabant Dagblad" daily
newspaper today. They cite a local hospital spokesman as saying that the patients are being contacted
to undergo tests for possible HIV or Hepatitis infection after this week's discovery at two area
hospitals of 'a technical design-failure in four new disinfecting machines'.


Some 500 patients had undergone internal examinations of their stomachs, lungs or intestines between
July 9 and August 26 2007 at the two hospitals, and there are suspicisions that hoses used in these
internal examinations 'were very likely not disinfected properly' and could have spread infections
between patients. "To make certain, we are testing all the patients, even though the possibility of
infection probably is low," said the spokesman.


This 'technical design error' had not been previously known because these new machines had not been
used in The Netherlands before. A spokesman said other hospitals have also recently received such
machines, but since 'he did not know the names of these hospitals, it could not be verified whether
similar problems also existed there.'


The hospitals' spokesman has placed the responsibility for the possible fiasco on the manufacturers
Sanamij of Rotterdam.



http://precision-equipment.mastersee...Sanamij-BV.htm


The hospital has now taken on extra nursing staff and launched a massive testing procedure for all
the patients who had been examined with the equipment. They have also warned the entire network of
local general-practitioners who in The Netherlands are the first line of defence against any
pandemics. They have also warned the national Health Inspectorate which will launch an immediate
investigation.


The newspaper did not obtain any comment from the manufacturing company. However my own attempt to
contact the Sanamij company at telephone number The Netherlands +31 10-2861750 merely obtained the
response from the unnamed woman on the other end of the line that 'they had been instructed not to
talk about it by management."



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Death wrote...
It sounds like they are trying to disinfect disposable equipment, and that is the
"technical design error" they are referring to. I read an exposé on the American
hospital practice of attempting to sterilize disposable but expensive plastic
medical equipment, and the hospitals justified it on cost grounds. The patients
aren't told whether their equipment is new or used, and the ones who receive the
used and supposedly sterilized equipment get no discount and are charged the same
as those patients who received new equipment, but the hospitals claim they pro-
rate the savings so all patients supposedly pay less.

"Mister Superstar" <superstar@deadcelebrity.org> wrote in message
Which reminds me of the needle exchange idea.