Noteboom The Law Firm

Dayton VA Dental Patients May Be Screened For Infection

December 2, 2010 - The Dayton Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center temporary closed its doors between August 19th and September 10th this last summer. The closing was due to the center's improper infection control practices. The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) will review those practices, per a request from the Chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Sen. Daniel Akaka. If the OIG finds validity in the allegations made against the Dayton VA's infection control practices, they will likely issue a corrective action plan.

In the past when VA patients have been exposed to possible infection from various causes they were notified of the possibility and the VA offered help. The VA has yet to make contact with veterans and their families about whether they should seek testing because Dayton VA Medical Center employees failed to follow proper procedures for infection control.

The VA will not decide if they're going to contact anyone until after they conclude their OIG investigation. The VA, however, has not performed any testing to determine if there is any possibility any patients were actually infected while at the dental clinic. An internal VA email mentioned up to 2,000 veterans and their spouses could be affected but the VA has not confirmed this number, or if anyone would actually be affected at all.

It is possible the improper infection control practices have been ongoing for decades. Veterans were not given notification the clinic had closed until 3 months after it happened. The VA owes it to the patients of that dental clinic to find out if exposure to infection was a possibility.