Unsafe Injection Practices Becoming a Problem in the US
Unsafe Injection Practices Becoming a Problem in the US – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started recording problems with unsafe injection practices in 2001, and since then there have been 44 outbreaks of infections.
The unsafe practices include reusing single-use syringes and drawing from single-use medication vials to administer injections to several individuals, and these can expose patients to hepatitis C and bacterial infections.
According to CDC health care epidemiologist Dr. Joseph Perz, unsafe injections practices, common in developing countries, are occurring in the US more frequently, making it important to educate, both healthcare professional and patients on the issue.
This month, Tonya Rushing, the former chief operating officer of a Las Vegas medical clinic, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud for inflated billing practices and received a sentence of one year and one day in federal prison. She was involved in a 2007 hepatitis C outbreak tied to unsafe injection practices.
Such unsafe practices can cause serious harm to patients’ health and they need to be vigilant. Another unsafe practice which the CDC mentions is the failure to wear a face mask when administering spinal injections to patients. This can prevent bacteria from being introduced into the spine and causing spinal meningitis.
Category: News
