This seems to be growing more and more. And I for one seem to be quite upset over this issue. As health care has been my career field for nearly thirty years. I can not get over some doctor having the audacity to try and save a few dollars here, reportedly five to ten per patients use. A person's life is worth far more than five or ten dollars Dr. Dipak Desai. Fortunately for now the Medical Board has asked Dr. Desai not to practice medicine for the time being (some reports say he surrendered his license while others say he won't). Unfortunately, for the ones that contract the viruses Hepatitis B,Hepatitis C, and HIV -- it wasn't done earlier.
Unfortunately more clinics have been found in Nevada to be in violation of health care practices. The Gastrointestinal Diagnostic Center, in Las Vegas, was cited for repeatedly reusing syringes. It was shut down also. The Digestive Center, in Reno, was cited for sterilization problems. The Sierra Center for Foot Surgery, in Carson, was cited for reusing syringes. And St. Mary's Surgery Center, in Galena, had problems with sterilization of instruments between patients surgeries.
To think this could have been caught earlier, had the health inspectors actually been doing there jobs. The state says that they are partially at fault for cutting back on ten health inspector jobs and not making regular visits every three years as they were scheduled. Three years --- my Gosh! That seems too long in between to me. I believe every six months or at the very least every year. Then maybe 40,000 people would not have to be contacted to undergo testing right now.
This is inflammatory, a slap to the people of this nation's face. It's like you're saying our health means little to you government types. You seem to be right up there with the good doctor, in the fault department, on this one. It all trickles down. Starting with the Government's cutbacks, cutting of health care, cutting health inspector jobs, not seeing that inspections are completed. Therefore, the doctors and administrators of the clinics and hospitals see an open opportunity. Opportunity to cut corners since there's no inspections and Big Brother/Uncle Sam's not watching you. So let's save money at the expense of the patients health and in the interim make extra money off the insurance companies (since they never pay our asking price anyways--this way we're likely to get more of what we want). Do you see it trickling down the line?
Dr. Desai not only saved money on vials. He also had disposable under pads, that only cost .21 each, cut in half. So he could only use half under each patient instead of a full one. He also had the technicians sterilizing the equipment not use the full amount of the detergent and to not discard it after cleaning each surgery's instruments. Therefore, it was reused to clean further instruments, and the instruments weren't fully sterile without the full detergent, sometimes blood and tissue remained on the instruments from the previous procedure. Dr. Desai was performing back to back colonoscopies in under fifteen minutes (faster than most doctors). Mistakes were made, like IV's being left in patients arms when they went home. This is why the state is suppose to be sending inspectors to regulate Doctors, Clinics and Hospitals of such magnitude (who think they can just treat people as a number without consequence).
The nurses it trickles to them next. When something is wrong like this they should stop it. They could quit and report the request right away to the proper agencies. Thus, an investigation would be initiated and no patients would be harmed. After all, nurses to care to the best of their ability for their patients. To ensure their patients safety. And to have compassion for their patients too. I know I worked for many years as one; I quit a hospital that asked me to report to work while I was impaired (under the influence of Demerol or I'd be fired). My job entailed using needles on cancer patients. I would NOT because I knew I would be taking a chance of injuring my patients and I was NOT going to do that -- therefore, I resigned on Jan. 31, 2008 from the hospital here in Pocatello.
These practices don't just exist in Nevada they are in other areas too. It's also up to individual health care providers to become whistle blowers or at least refuse to follow such orders. If I had been in the Nevada clinic I would have been the whistle blower, no job is that important to risk the life of another person. No life is worth trying to save a measly five to ten dollars or a few pennies.
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