Lawmakers "Shocked" By Report On VA Hospitals.

In continuing coverage, the CBS Evening News (6/16, story 5, 2:35, Glor, 6.1M) broadcast, "Capitol Hill is famous for holding hearings, but rarely have members of Congress been as shocked as they were" Tuesday, when "they got the results of a new report with this startling headline: More than 10,000 veterans who went in for checkups at several Southeast VA hospitals may have been exposed to HIV or other blood diseases." According to CBS, those veterans "have now received letters warning them that the equipment the VA used for their colonoscopies may not have been properly sterilized. So far, six of those" vets "have tested positive for HIV, 13 for hepatitis B, and 34 for hepatitis C." CNN's Newsroom (6/16, 1:14 p.m. ET) and MSNBC Live) (6/16, 4:14 p.m. ET) also aired reports on this story, as did many local TV stations in various parts of the country, including KPIX-TV) San Francisco (6/16, 11:11 p.m. PT) and WRDW-TV Augusta, GA (6/16, 11:06 p.m. ET).
VA Officials Apologize For Inspection Results. The AP (6/17, Evans) reports, "Lawmakers sharply criticized" the VA "on Tuesday about why a national scare over botched colonoscopies earlier this year didn't prompt stronger safeguards at the agency's medical centers." VA officials "apologized for the continued weaknesses and told a House subcommittee they would do better," while VA Secretary Eric Shinseki "said he would be disciplining staffers. The strong reaction came as the agency's inspector general reported that fewer than half of VA facilities selected for surprise inspections last month had proper training and guidelines in place. That was months after the VA launched a nationwide safety campaign over the discovery of errors" at three facilities, including one in Miami, Florida, "that could have exposed veterans to...infections."
USA Today (6/17, Theobald, 2.29M) reports, "House lawmakers blasted" VA "officials on Tuesday after hearing testimony that the agency still wasn't following procedures for handling endoscopes, months after discovering that the improperly cleaned instruments may have exposed veterans to hepatitis and HIV. 'I'm outraged that any of our nation's heroes were potentially infected or that they even have to worry about the possibility,' said" US Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), "who is chairman" of the House's Veterans Affairs subcommittee on oversight and investigations. The Tennessean (6/17, 152K) and the WBIR-TV Knoxville, TN (6/16) website run the same story, while Talk Radio News Service (6/17) also notes comments made by Mitchell.
The Washington Post's (6/16, O'Keefe) "Federal Eye" blog noted that during Tuesday's hearing, Mitchell also said, "There is no question that shoddy standards -- systemic across the VA -- put veterans at risk and dealt a blow to their trust in the VA." The Post adds, however, that in the "past week," the VA "has taken several steps to ensure that employees and supervisors are trained and qualified to handle endoscopy equipment, according to officials. By the end of July, the department will make unannounced inspections of facilities using the equipment, ensuring that each facility is fully qualified." The VA "will also undertake a two-year review of endoscopy procedures." The second item in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's (6/17) "Nation In Brief" column also notes Tuesday's hearing, as does HealthDay (6/17, Mundell).
Employees At VA Hospital In Florida Likely To Be Disciplined. McClatchy (6/17, Clark) reports, "Several employees" at the VA hospital in Miami "are likely to be disciplined for failing to detect problems with improperly sterilized medical equipment in a case that's enraged members of Congress. The disclosure of the potential punishments came" as Federal "lawmakers chided" the VA "for not moving faster to address mistakes that may have exposed thousands of veterans to HIV and hepatitis." McClatchy notes that after Tuesday's House subcommittee hearing, Shinseki "issued a statement...that said it was 'unacceptable that any of our veterans may have been exposed to harm as a result of an endoscopic procedure.'"
Roe Questions How Colonoscopy Mistakes Could Have Even Happened. The Knoxville (TN) News Sentinel (6/17, Perez) notes that US Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), "who serves on the VA Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, said he could not figure out how the mistakes during the colonoscopies happened even after reviewing the material presented in the IG's health care inspection report released during Tuesday's hearing. 'It is not a complicated procedure to follow,' Roe said." Roe made similar comments during an interview aired by CNN's Newsroom (6/16, 2:00 p.m. ET), while the CNN (6/16) website published similar statements made by Roe, as did the Bristol (VA) Herald Courier (6/17, Wachter)
Patient Observation Helped Lead To Tuesday's Hearing. The Augusta (GA) Chronicle (6/17, Corwin) says a "sharp observation by a VA patient led the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center to uncover problems with the cleaning of endoscopic equipment in November, the first of three major incidents at VA facilities that led to a congressional hearing Tuesday." The AP (6/17, Turner) also notes this story, while the WZTV-TV Nashville, TN (6/17) website points out that another veteran, Walter McRae, who tested negative for infections after getting a colonoscopy at the Alvin C. York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, wants the US VA "to say their sorry." In an editorial, meanwhile, the Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle (6/16) said Tuesday's congressional hearing "is the start of what must promise to be...a long and thorough investigation."
Impact: Congress, Endoscopy issues

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