Nevada Governor Speaks Out About Health Clinic
March 17, 2008
Washington (dbTechno) - Gov. Jim Gibbons of Nevada has come out and made some comments in regards to the Las Vegas endoscopy center. This health clinic was linked to an outbreak of hepatitis C, as well as medical violations. Gibbons has made some controversial remarks, coming to the defense of the center. It has been the center of attention in the state since the practice of unsafe syringe use was discovered.
Gibbons has come out to the defense of the Las Vegas endoscopy center. He has been speaking out about various things in regards to these incidents, hinting at times that the media may have gone too far.
He has insisted that only six patients at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada have been found to be infected with hepatitis C.
The practice of unsafe syringe use caused 40,000 people to be recommended for testing. There is no word as of yet though in regards to what their final results are.
The governor stated though that a number as small as 40,000 is not enough to really worry.
He stated to the Reno Gazette-Journal that in a normal population, if 1.8% have hepatitis C, with 40,000 people being in danger, “we should’ve found at least, what, 700 people with hepatitis C.”
There has yet to be any clear evidence that doctors or nurses were reusing the syringes at the health clinic.
The belief is that nurses may have used the same syringes for medication vials.
There has yet to be any type of excess revelations about diseases stemming from this incident, but the investigation is ongoing.
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Don’t you hate it when “the media may have gone too far with the focus on the facts” while reporting the news? I know I do. That’s why I normally stick to FOX news. Still, I was feeling bored today and started reading real news. The thing about real news is that it’s riddled with these “facts”, and that confuses me. This story fails to mention the nine-headed Dragon of Nymphia that lives in the hospital and likes to stick the old needles in with the new ones, for example. It also doesn’t cite the blind wizard, Azrael, who is the Hospital Lord and also played a large role in this used needle fiasco.
/shakes head
//Oh, what a world!
Perhaps Gibbons should start going to Las Vegas endoscopy center. Maybe they can help pull his head out of his ass.
We Gibbons have always been embarrassed by this one. To say that he is not the sharpest tool in the shed is to insult dull stupid tools the world over.
Our distant cousins, the White-Cheeked Gibbon has sent him several messages demanding he change his name as they feel the image of a slow-witted, flea-picking, knuckle dragger is not in keeping with their more refined image.
Those of us Gibbons who long ago learned to live indoors, eat with forks, wipe ourselves after toileting and bath regularly have wondered WTF is wrong with the voters in NV that they would elect this putz.
Yes, my name is Gibbons. No, I am not a close relative of small-brained, smelly tree dwellers nor the Lesser Apes that bear our families name. Yes, I was aware of this twit prior to this article and have thought him an embarrassment since I first read of his exploits.
“…hinting at times that the media may have gone too far with the focus on the facts.”
Those darn facts, always getting in the way…
Facts,Facts,Facts. Can’t you people focus on the spin, rather than facts !
The Gov. has his maths mixed up. The estimated percent of Americans with HCV antiobodies is 1.8%, but he is assuming that the population going in for endoscopy is the same as the general population. Populations with the greatest risk factors for HCV are those least likely to seek medical treatment, so his “at least 700″ figure is probably off.
No time frame was given in the article, but it seems to say that 40,000 are in need of testing, i.e. not yet tested. Again, the Gov’s statement would be off because the numbers just are not in. Instead of making claims he can not support, he should have encouraged the 40,000 to get tested and after analysis, make a statement based on facts.
”
“…hinting at times that the media may have gone too far with the focus on the facts.”
Those darn facts, always getting in the way…
”
Is there an actual quote of him saying this? Or is this just another case of the media going too far in making shit up?
“The belief is that nurses may have used the same syringes for medication vials.”
This is a VERY common practice in pretty much every medical institution in the country. It may not be the most sterile procedure, but at the same time it wouldn’t cause anyone to get hep c or anything else for that matter.
For those unfamiliar with what he is talking about, here is the simple breakdown. Most syringes come in 2 parts, the case(the part that holds the liquid,) and the actual needle. Lets say the nurse has to give out 10 b12 injections, she opens a sterile needle and case, draws up the b12, disconnects the needle from the case, sets it aside, and grabs a new case, using the same needle(that is still inside the rubber stopper on the sterile b12 vial, and uses that to draw up the next meds and so on, until she is done. Once done, that original needle gets tossed, and the 10 cases with b12 in them get new sterile needles added. This is mainly done for cost and convenience, as you cant inject with the same needle you draw with(it becomes noticeably duller from the rubber stopper,) so you would need 2 needles for each person, instead of just 11 for the 10 people. Pretty much any place that says they never do this is lying, policy may prevent them from doing it, but it is still done.
Just my $0.02
Ah,Republican intellectualism at it’s finest.
Lee, what you’re describing is NOT what the Endoscopy Center was doing:
–they were using ONE syringe to draw up anesthesia, giving it to the patient, discarding the needle, putting a new needle on the same syringe and drawing up more anesthesia, giving it to the same patient.
At this point, even though a new needle was used to draw the anesthesia from the bottle, the same syringe was being used. The syringe, having been used on the patient, could have been contaminated w/Hep B, C or HIV due to backflow of blood (even an amt. too small to “see”), by using that syringe again to draw from the vial after it had been used on a patient and contaminated w/blood backflow, the vial got contaminated.
Then the vial which was only supposed to be for 1 patient got used for multiple patients, even if a totally new syringe and needle was used for the new patient, the vial had already been contaminated.
Hi Jenny, that info wasnt in this particular article, so i was just going on what i read here and what the gov. had stated and what he was referring to. I completely agree if that was the case, new syringe and needle should be used for each patient. As someone who has had to take bi-weekly injections for a few years now, i know how easy it is to backflow into the syringe, even when the injection is IM. That is a very bad practice. Not to mention the added pain inflicted on the patient by using the duller needle. I thought to myself, how much duller can a needle be after just one pass through the rubber stopped… once was enough for me to never try again