The letter that Evelyn received informing her that she was exposed to Hepatitis C
After a thorough investigation by health officials, 50 of these patient notifications have become confirmed outbreaks of bloodborne pathogens, usually hepatitis C.
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Sharon Bradley, RN CIC, of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority.
We are just two of many citizens and patient advocates who remain concerned about the safety of our nation’s many outpatient clinics—and ambulatory surgery facilities, in particular. Perhaps, it is because trips to these type of healthcare settings resulted in the Hepatitis C virus for both of us.
Since the founding of HONOReform in 2007, there has been a migration of care from the hospital to the outpatient setting. Very few of us do not know someone who described their surgery or procedure, which appeared quite complicated, yet they were released the same day.
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I am honored to be a patient advocate with the Patient and Family Engagement Network of the Partnership for Patients. The Partnership for Patients initiative is a public-private partnership working to improve the quality, safety and affordability of health care for all Americans, and I am very proud of its efforts to achieve its goal of 40% reduction in hospital acquired conditions and a 20% reduction in hospital readmissions compared to 2010.
As patient advocates, our role with the Partnership is to encourage and support collaboration between healthcare providers and patients and families to improve healthcare and reduce cost. Along with other advocates, I posted to the National Patient Safety Foundation’s website blog to highlight Patient Safety Awareness Week 2014. In the words of fellow advocate Helen Haskell, ” Patient Safety Awareness Week has been an important symbol of hospital involvement in patient safety. It is not just about safety, but about awareness of all that patients can teach health care providers about themselves.”
Following is my blog celebrating the patient/provider partnership. read more
Tom and Evelyn McKnight gave a presentation on injection safety to Guatemalan healthcare workers
Tom and I were privileged to participate in a mission trip to Guatemala, led by Guatemala Esperanza’s Ron Noecker, a former HONOReform board member.
Our team co-operated with several other organizations to provide health screenings, build a health clinic and provide healthcare provider education.
Guatemala is a lovely country, very lush with beautiful cities, lakes, volcanoes and villages. It also has many challenges. read more
BD hosted HONOReform and reporter Matthew Hansen for a plant tour
What a great way to end the week!
Steve Langan and Matthew Hansen, features writer for the Omaha World-Herald, picked me up at my house on Friday morning, and we drove to a meeting at the BD (Becton, Dickinson and Co.) plant in Columbus. It’s one of two BD plants in Columbus. There are two others in the state, one in Broken Bow and another in Holdrege.
Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, a longtime supporter of injection safety whose district now also includes the Columbus area, was at the meeting. He met with our BD colleagues and the HONOReform team, and then he led a town hall meeting for BD employees.
I value Congressman Fortenberry’s straightforward, genuine approach to governing. read more
Evelyn McKnight is a survivor of the Nebraska outbreak, in which 99 cancer patients contracted Hepatitis C through reuse of an IV bag on multiple patients.
One IV Bag, One IV Tubing, and Only One Time
Recently, I had what started out as a minor health situation. But as time went on, I experienced a cascade of health complications which resulted in a not-so-minor situation. I neared dehydration, and I would need IV fluids if my condition continued to deteriorate. The thought of an IV infusion panicked me, and I asked for 24 hours before we began IV fluids.
As I chugged Gatorade, I tried not to think about the last time I had an IV infusion, which was during chemotherapy in 2000. The nurse reused syringes to access a mutidose saline bag. When a nurse used a syringe on a patient with known Hepatitis C and then reused the same syringe to access the IV bag, the IV bag was contaminated. This happened multiple times during the day; in fact, it was found during an investigation by Nebraska Health and Human Services that after a day’s use, the bag was cloudy, pink, with bits of sediment. In this way, 99 Nebraskans contracted Hepatitis C. read more
Evelyn & Tom McKnight are survivors of the Nebraska Outbreak
On behalf of my wife Evelyn and everyone who helps sustain the efforts of HONOReform, thank you very much for your support. In the letter I sent in November, I ask the wonderful people we have met and worked alongside through the years to provide a donation to HONOReform. This request is getting a good response. I thank you all.
And, naturally, I encourage everyone to please think of HONOReform here at the end of the year…and throughout 2014 and beyond. We depend on your kindness and generosity. Every donation is meaningful. You are helping us continue to help safeguard the medical injection process in the United States. If you haven’t already, will you please consider a gift to HONOReform?
In a blog post scheduled for early next year, our executive director, Steve Langan, will share some of our highlights of 2013—and some of our goals for 2014. We encourage you to join us!
In my appeal letter we mailed in November, I shared part of my story, our story—what can happen when a loved one is affected by unsafe injection practices. Even one unsafe injection can devastate a person and his or her family. Every part of the injection safety process “from manufacting through disposal” (as Evelyn says) must be done correctly.
I talk about the many “love stories” that have been altered by unsafe injection practices. I have been there. Many others have been there, too. Let’s continue to work to prevent outbreaks and infections caused by unsafe injection practices.
I would like to switch gears for a minute, and talk to you about injection safety from the point of view of health care providers. As many of you know, I have been a family physician for many years. It is not a stretch to say, at this point in my career, “I’ve seen it all.”
I call on my colleagues—not just physicians but nurses and every member of the staff in a clinic or hospital—to always provide a safe injection, each and every time. This continues to be my goal. A call to action to everyone who gives an injection…to make sure it’s being done correctly.
That said, it is now more important than ever that we communicate. There is so much technology in play in hospitals and clinics—from electronic medical records to apps of all kinds—that I think we providers sometimes forget to take some time to talk with one another.
My wish for 2014 is that we emphasize communication here in Fremont at our clinic. And that we are never shy or hesitant about addressing a situation in which any aspect of health care is questionable. As they say in the airports, If you see something, say something. This especially applies to any potential violation of the injection safety. Lives depend on it.
I extend this important call to action to my fellow providers, here in Nebraska and throughout the country.
Johnny Robertson is a survivor of the 2008 North Carolina outbreak and serves as a member of the North Carolina One and Only Campaign. He recently hosted a house party to talk about injection safety.
Marilee Johnson and Zach Moore of the NC One and Only Campaign with Evelyn and Johnny
We all know it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to prevent an outbreak.
Johnny Robertson is trying to do just that – bring together the community to prevent an outbreak of disease due to unsafe injections. Along with other members of his community, he contracted Hepatitis C from reuse of syringes in a medical office in 2008.
Johnny invited vital community groups to his home on a lovely Carolina Sunday to talk about the outbreak and how to prevent others. He invited nursing faculty from the local community college and local healthcare providers. He invited members of two service organizations that he has been deeply involved in and were instrumental in shaping his response to the outbreak – the American Red Cross and Rotary International. The media was there to give a report to the larger community. Johnny proudly introduced all to two groups he is involved in that work diligently to prevent further outbreaks – HONOReform and the North Carolina One and Only Campaign.
The passion in the room was electric as the participants shared stories of tragedy due to unsafe injections. Everyone had a story to share or a question to ask.
The conversation turned to solutions. What can we do to prevent this tragedy from happening again? We talked about promoting the use of safety engineered injection devices that cannot be used more than once. We talked about the need for educating providers and empowering patients to talk to their providers about safe injection practices. And we talked about putting policies in place that shore up safe injection practices. As Dr Zack Moore of the North Carolina One and Only Campaign observed, “There is no one solution, we need to use all of these options.”
Johnny likes to quote Mark Twain: “There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.”
Many thanks to our new friends in North Carolina for their passionate support of injection safety. Together, we will help spare other patients, and other communities, from the devastation that occurs when basic injection safety rules are not followed.
We will continue to provide updates on our work in North Carolina. A special thanks to Johnny and Janet Robertson for hosting our fun gathering. And to everyone, for joining us.
“I learned to live one day at a time, Barbara Burlingame writes in this poignant summary of her experience as an outbreak victim. She comments on the ongoing situation in Tulsa, and she encourages fellow patients to “please ask for help”.
Barbara Burlingame and her faithful dog Clara
The recent incident in Tulsa, in which as many as 7,000 dental patients may have been infected with bloodborne pathogens while receiving treatment from Dr. Scott Harrington, has brought a lot of thoughts and feelings back in to my life. Honestly some of these feelings have been buried deeply and it is a little painful to have them bubbling back to the surface, but it is also very therapeutic. I think daily of the people in Tulsa and the way that they have been blindsided by all of this information and these emotions. It is tough. read more
