3 ms·

Over 2,400 patients may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis at Oregon hospitals

40 points by geox 2y ago

willcipriano 2y ago
We pay more because we get the best care in the world.
- BiteCode_dev 2y ago
  The USA has a very high diabetes rate, so good care would mean threating those people well. Even after you got of the scandal of the $800 insulin, it's still 10 times more expensive than most places in the world: https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/cost-of-insulin-by-country/ https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/cost-of-insulin-by-co... Insulin is insulin, you can't make it "10 times better".
  - ATsch 2y ago
    The comment you're replying to is clearly sarcastic. Infecting 2400 people with HIV is generally not considered good care.
  - BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
    You're replying to sarcasm, but I do want to point out... > Insulin is insulin, you can't make it "10 times better" Other details aside, this part is not true. There are multiple kinds of insulin on the market today, and they span the glucose immediacy gamut from a large rapid burst to prolonged slow conversion.
  - washadjeffmad 2y ago
    And deprive the market of research subjects that could contribute to life saving therapies for state leaders? It's not like doctors are out there just giving people dis... Ah.
- pengaru 2y ago
  Much of the world sets a pretty low bar, unfortunately. e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/07/italy.international https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/07/italy.internat...
morninglight 2y ago
The physician's name hasn't been released. Why not?
- alistairSH 2y ago
  And why hasn’t he been charged with a crime? These are deadly, incurable diseases, not just a common cold.
  - elmerfud 2y ago
    Generally a crime needs mens rea. Not always but generally there needs to be some sort of intent. It is unclear from the article if the violation of the safety practices were intentional or due to ignorance or potentially lack of training on the employer's part. Since the article does mention that policies and procedures have been updated to account for this there may been some deficiencies discovered in their policies. This is usually sufficient to explain why criminal charges have not been brought. If it was just simple incompetence but they believed they were following procedures to the best of their current knowledge it is unlikely they could get a conviction.
    - xkcd1963 2y ago
      Incompetence is punishable
      - toast0 2y ago
        Incompetence doesn't often give rise to criminal liability, though.
    - alistairSH 2y ago
      Single physician across two employers. Thousands of people impacted, so the problem spanned years. And he was fired. Sounds like one guy got lazy to the point of maliciousness. But I’ll concede there aren’t enough details in the article to know what happened. I just know if I got a note in my e-file that I might have HIV, I’d be furious. And if I actually had it due to either malice or incompetence, I’d be out for blood.
angelgonzales 2y ago
In my personal experience I found the Portland healthcare system to subpar and adversarial to their patients. It was difficult to find doctors, impossible to find in-person therapists (I take on high-stress jobs and talking to others about it helps keep me focused). I’m not surprised this exposure occurred, I noticed an atmosphere of carelessness and incompetence during my entire time in Portland.
- jmcgough 2y ago
  I work in healthcare in Portland - our mental health system really feels like it's on life support from all of the recent trauma and the large number of transplants to the city. I have a friend who was having serious depression and went to the ED feigning SI because they knew if they did inpatient they could meet with a psychiatrist - otherwise they were looking at months of waiting.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

40 points by geox 2y ago

willcipriano 2y ago

We pay more because we get the best care in the world.

BiteCode_dev 2y ago
The USA has a very high diabetes rate, so good care would mean threating those people well. Even after you got of the scandal of the $800 insulin, it's still 10 times more expensive than most places in the world: https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/cost-of-insulin-by-country/ https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/cost-of-insulin-by-co... Insulin is insulin, you can't make it "10 times better".
- ATsch 2y ago
  The comment you're replying to is clearly sarcastic. Infecting 2400 people with HIV is generally not considered good care.
- BugsJustFindMe 2y ago
  You're replying to sarcasm, but I do want to point out... > Insulin is insulin, you can't make it "10 times better" Other details aside, this part is not true. There are multiple kinds of insulin on the market today, and they span the glucose immediacy gamut from a large rapid burst to prolonged slow conversion.
- washadjeffmad 2y ago
  And deprive the market of research subjects that could contribute to life saving therapies for state leaders? It's not like doctors are out there just giving people dis... Ah.
pengaru 2y ago
Much of the world sets a pretty low bar, unfortunately. e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/07/italy.international https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/07/italy.internat...

morninglight 2y ago

The physician's name hasn't been released. Why not?

alistairSH 2y ago
And why hasn’t he been charged with a crime? These are deadly, incurable diseases, not just a common cold.
- elmerfud 2y ago
  Generally a crime needs mens rea. Not always but generally there needs to be some sort of intent. It is unclear from the article if the violation of the safety practices were intentional or due to ignorance or potentially lack of training on the employer's part. Since the article does mention that policies and procedures have been updated to account for this there may been some deficiencies discovered in their policies. This is usually sufficient to explain why criminal charges have not been brought. If it was just simple incompetence but they believed they were following procedures to the best of their current knowledge it is unlikely they could get a conviction.
  - xkcd1963 2y ago
    Incompetence is punishable
    - toast0 2y ago
      Incompetence doesn't often give rise to criminal liability, though.
  - alistairSH 2y ago
    Single physician across two employers. Thousands of people impacted, so the problem spanned years. And he was fired. Sounds like one guy got lazy to the point of maliciousness. But I’ll concede there aren’t enough details in the article to know what happened. I just know if I got a note in my e-file that I might have HIV, I’d be furious. And if I actually had it due to either malice or incompetence, I’d be out for blood.

angelgonzales 2y ago

In my personal experience I found the Portland healthcare system to subpar and adversarial to their patients. It was difficult to find doctors, impossible to find in-person therapists (I take on high-stress jobs and talking to others about it helps keep me focused). I’m not surprised this exposure occurred, I noticed an atmosphere of carelessness and incompetence during my entire time in Portland.

jmcgough 2y ago
I work in healthcare in Portland - our mental health system really feels like it's on life support from all of the recent trauma and the large number of transplants to the city. I have a friend who was having serious depression and went to the ED feigning SI because they knew if they did inpatient they could meet with a psychiatrist - otherwise they were looking at months of waiting.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]