UCSF Med Center Patients Exposed to Possibly Contaminated Device
Last week, UC-San Francisco Medical Center announced that a possibly contaminated medical device had been used during procedures for nearly 500 patients, potentially exposing them to certain bloodborne pathogens, Payers & Providers reports.
Details of Exposure
According to UCSF Medical Center, a flexible cystoscope that had not been thoroughly cleaned was used to examine the bladders of 471 patients between Jan. 23 and June 26 at the hospital's outpatient urology practice. The device includes a thin optic tube and camera used for examining patients' bladders.
A statement issued by the hospital said that "a step was inadvertently omitted in the cleaning of equipment used in their procedure."
The patients could have been exposed to certain bloodborne pathogens, including:
- Hepatitis B;
- Hepatitis C; and
- HIV.
However, the hospital said it was very unlikely, only a 0.1% chance, that patients were exposed to such pathogens.
UCSF Medical Center said it has apologized to the patients and notified the San Francisco Department of Public Health and California Department of Public Health about the issue.
In addition, the hospital:
- Is offering patients no-cost blood testing; and
- Has established a call center for patients to ask a dedicated nurse or physician questions.
The hospital did not provide details about the device manufacturer or which cleaning step had been skipped (Shinkman, Payers & Providers, 8/13).
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