Physician reuses dirty syringes, exposes hundreds of his patients to hepatitis. Bonus: officials

keep his identity secret so he can keep practicing

About 630 patients of a Nassau County physician who reused needles and syringes have been notified that they are at risk for HIV and hepatitis B and C, state and county health officials said yesterday. At least two of the doctor's patients have already contracted hepatitis C.

The state and county health departments knew about the two hepatitis C infections for about a year and a half but did not notify most of the other patients until Saturday when the state health department sent letters by mail, officials said.

Claudia Hutton, a state health department spokeswoman, said the department could not notify the 630 at-risk patients until its three-year investigation was concluded.

The physician, an anesthesiologist, was not identified, nor was the pain management clinic and orthopedist's office where he worked. The clinic and office are part of the same unidentified health care system. A probe that began in 2004 found that for five years, from 2000 to 2005, the doctor regularly used the same needle and syringe on multiple patients, officials said.

more: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lihepa1114,0,3422982.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines

:nuke: :grr: :nuke:

He should be identified immediately, and the offices he worked in should be identified too. What the hell good do they think they're doing by keeping this a secret?

I can see a hell of a lot of lawsuits coming, and some of them will be for covering this up. x(

surely they could buy their own needle factory?

Sack the management NOW, please.

it says they are "monitoring" him. Anyone who contracts Hep C or HIV needs to get with the other people and sue his ass...til he literally has to sleep in a box. Why on earth are they protecting this POS? It's as bad as the vatican protecting the child molester priests.

I think that's why it's done... so that in the cases when it IS just a mistake, a person doesn't lose their license for it.

But the abuses of this protection are widespread, nobody would call what this guy did a 'mistake'. It's long past time they changed the way they do things.

Because the physician himself is at heightened risk by HANDLING used syringes! Aye carumba! This guy is a total disgrace to the medical community