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> The VA has also vowed the project would prevent death and disease from unsterilized equipment, a persistent problem at the VA. Oh my god how is this a proble

> The VA has also vowed the project would prevent death and disease from unsterilized equipment, a persistent problem at the VA. Oh my god how is this a problem in the modern age? Stop wasting our money on gimmicks and focus on adopting modern hospital practices.

cfghcrtyd 9y ago
Dude: colonoscopies with dirty equipment led to a rash of hepatitis and HIV ...pretty much in the worst way imaginable. Following the links the article provides: Army veteran Thomas Mayo got a colonoscopy after the VA insisted on it - only to learn it may have left him with a chronic disease. 6 veterans who took the follow-up blood checks tested positive for HIV, 34 tested positive for hepatitis C and 13 tested positive for hepatitis B. But there is no way to prove [blah blah blah], and some [roll their eyes, accuse the victims of lying and accept paychecks to play devil's advocate, claiming maybe] the infections probably already existed. You pretty much have to figure anyone that cares enough about their health to subject themselves to an elective colonoscopy, probably has a firm awareness of their HIV/hepatitis status, before hand, including the patient zero carrying the source of the disease in each case. There are likely medical records capable of proving which patients were the infectious patient zeroes, and which contracted the disease as a result of the malpractice, even if those identities are never made public due to privacy law.
jdowner 9y ago
Agreed. This is tragic. These are the kinds of problems that I would have expected a military organization to have a pragmatic and robust solution to. I doubt you can rely upon a solid wifi connection in a field situation, so I bet they have some pretty solid procedures in place so that a human reliably find what they need without the need to google it.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Veterans Affairs is a cabinet level department, it isn't part of the DoD. It serves former military but it isn't military.
  - nerdponx 9y ago
    That almost makes it worse. The fact that this level of incompetence nd negligence is coming from a cabinet level department is nauseating.
    - protomyth 9y ago
      Well, the Department of the Interior runs Indian Health Service with similar results and has been thrown off the internet because of incompetence, it’s not exactly surprising seeing a cabinet level department being this dysfunctional. I still wonder why the VA isn’t part of DoD?
      - skywhopper 9y ago
        I believe the primary reasoning is that the DoD is focused on national defense and military matters, and veterans care is a very different thing. In practice, the DoD will always prioritize military preparedness over care and benefits for former members of the military. US history (and I assume most history) is filled with examples of neglect of veterans' needs and failure to pay promised benefits in a timely or effective manner, from the Revolutionary War till today. The actual promotion of Veterans Affairs to a cabinet-level department in 1989 was in fact driven by the perceived need to ensure that more attention was paid to the government agencies that administered benefits that at the time covered a third of all Americans. Of course, whether that works or not depends a lot on Congress's willingness to adequately fund the department and the President's willingness to prioritize the VA over any of the many other priorities they must balance.
        protomyth 9y ago
        At this point, the funding for the VA isn't the problem. They are beyond incompetent with the latest idiocy of hiring people with revoked licenses. The DoD does a lot, and it cannot do any worse at protecting their own. They at least won't take months to just signup.
        9y ago
walshemj 9y ago
This seems insane how are not all US hospitals using best practice in this regards the savings in insurance for wrongful death suits would be quite large in its self.
heisenbit 9y ago
It is mind-boggling how anyone can claim tracking equipment with computers all the time is a cost efficient and robust mechanism to ensure sterilization. Where these simple things go wrong complexity is never the answer. Why nobody challenged these assertions is a mystery to me.
gaius 9y ago
Oh my god how is this a problem in the modern age? The modern age? 100 or even just 50 years ago hospital wards were run by "matrons", fierce and experienced nurses who ran their wards like a Sergeant Major inspected a Guards regiment, everything immaculate. That system was scrapped in favour of what we have now, a fluffy blame-free culture where no-one is responsible for anything. The problem of failing to maintain standards is entirely a "modern" one, sadly.
- pjc50 9y ago
  This sounds like a nostalgia-tinged anti-political-correctness view; a hundred years ago was the end of the first World War, and the controversial introduction of hygene was in living memory. Could do with some stats either way.
  - shifter 9y ago
    To be fair, you're discounting the possibility that nostalgia-tinged anti-political-correctness views are correct ;-)
    - Apocryphon 9y ago
      A hundred years ago was also the outbreak of the Spanish Flu pandemic which killed 3-5% of the global population, not exactly a golden age for public health.

cfghcrtyd 9y ago

Dude: colonoscopies with dirty equipment led to a rash of hepatitis and HIV ...pretty much in the worst way imaginable. Following the links the article provides: Army veteran Thomas Mayo got a colonoscopy after the VA insisted on it - only to learn it may have left him with a chronic disease. 6 veterans who took the follow-up blood checks tested positive for HIV, 34 tested positive for hepatitis C and 13 tested positive for hepatitis B. But there is no way to prove [blah blah blah], and some [roll their eyes, accuse the victims of lying and accept paychecks to play devil's advocate, claiming maybe] the infections probably already existed. You pretty much have to figure anyone that cares enough about their health to subject themselves to an elective colonoscopy, probably has a firm awareness of their HIV/hepatitis status, before hand, including the patient zero carrying the source of the disease in each case. There are likely medical records capable of proving which patients were the infectious patient zeroes, and which contracted the disease as a result of the malpractice, even if those identities are never made public due to privacy law.

jdowner 9y ago

Agreed. This is tragic. These are the kinds of problems that I would have expected a military organization to have a pragmatic and robust solution to. I doubt you can rely upon a solid wifi connection in a field situation, so I bet they have some pretty solid procedures in place so that a human reliably find what they need without the need to google it.

maxerickson 9y ago
Veterans Affairs is a cabinet level department, it isn't part of the DoD. It serves former military but it isn't military.
- nerdponx 9y ago
  That almost makes it worse. The fact that this level of incompetence nd negligence is coming from a cabinet level department is nauseating.
  - protomyth 9y ago
    Well, the Department of the Interior runs Indian Health Service with similar results and has been thrown off the internet because of incompetence, it’s not exactly surprising seeing a cabinet level department being this dysfunctional. I still wonder why the VA isn’t part of DoD?
    - skywhopper 9y ago
      I believe the primary reasoning is that the DoD is focused on national defense and military matters, and veterans care is a very different thing. In practice, the DoD will always prioritize military preparedness over care and benefits for former members of the military. US history (and I assume most history) is filled with examples of neglect of veterans' needs and failure to pay promised benefits in a timely or effective manner, from the Revolutionary War till today. The actual promotion of Veterans Affairs to a cabinet-level department in 1989 was in fact driven by the perceived need to ensure that more attention was paid to the government agencies that administered benefits that at the time covered a third of all Americans. Of course, whether that works or not depends a lot on Congress's willingness to adequately fund the department and the President's willingness to prioritize the VA over any of the many other priorities they must balance.
      - protomyth 9y ago
        At this point, the funding for the VA isn't the problem. They are beyond incompetent with the latest idiocy of hiring people with revoked licenses. The DoD does a lot, and it cannot do any worse at protecting their own. They at least won't take months to just signup.
        9y ago

walshemj 9y ago

This seems insane how are not all US hospitals using best practice in this regards the savings in insurance for wrongful death suits would be quite large in its self.

heisenbit 9y ago

It is mind-boggling how anyone can claim tracking equipment with computers all the time is a cost efficient and robust mechanism to ensure sterilization. Where these simple things go wrong complexity is never the answer. Why nobody challenged these assertions is a mystery to me.

gaius 9y ago

Oh my god how is this a problem in the modern age? The modern age? 100 or even just 50 years ago hospital wards were run by "matrons", fierce and experienced nurses who ran their wards like a Sergeant Major inspected a Guards regiment, everything immaculate. That system was scrapped in favour of what we have now, a fluffy blame-free culture where no-one is responsible for anything. The problem of failing to maintain standards is entirely a "modern" one, sadly.

pjc50 9y ago
This sounds like a nostalgia-tinged anti-political-correctness view; a hundred years ago was the end of the first World War, and the controversial introduction of hygene was in living memory. Could do with some stats either way.
- shifter 9y ago
  To be fair, you're discounting the possibility that nostalgia-tinged anti-political-correctness views are correct ;-)
  - Apocryphon 9y ago
    A hundred years ago was also the outbreak of the Spanish Flu pandemic which killed 3-5% of the global population, not exactly a golden age for public health.