Tag Archives: reuse of syringes

It’s very important to keep your eyes open because this could happen anywhere”

November 10, 2014

Evelyn McKnight and Lauren Lollini

Healthcare providers can be ‘survivors’ of unsafe injections

Usually in this space we share stories from patients who have survived an unsafe injection. Today we are sharing the survival story of a physician who stopped colleagues from performing unsafe injections during her residency.

Here is Susan’s story

My story of improper injections is from my residency. I was in my third year of family practice residency in Minnesota and I was starting a procedures rotation. The attending physician and nurses were preparing for procedures that day – mainly mole removals and simple skin techniques. I noticed that after the first procedure the nurses took the needle off of the syringe and put a new needle on it in order to use the same syringe of anesthetic for the second patient.

I told them, “You can’t do that.”
They explained that because the attending physician was not drawing back it was actually safe to use the same syringe with a different needle.

I told them that it was NOT the case and then we put the needle and syringe into the sharps container. After class that day I spoke with the program director and several others at the residency. By the next week when I was back on that rotation the procedure had changed. I noticed that there was some conversation between the attending physician and the nurses about how that change had come about.

I was just shocked and appalled at the time. Residency is very stressful. In addition to the stress of learning so many things, I didn’t think I would have to be stressed about watching healthcare providers to make sure they were using proper injection technique. Its just very important to always keep your eyes open because this could happen anywhere.

Meeting with patients in North Dakota

April 21, 2014

Evelyn McKnight and Lauren Lollini

Steve Langan, director of HONOReform, is meeting with people affected by the North Dakota outbreak today

We send our best wishes in a special way today to our friends in Minot, North Dakota. Minot is the location of a healthcare-assoicated outbreak of Hepatitis C in which 44 residents of a nursing home were infected. Public health officials continue to investigate, but the exact cause is a mystery at this time. We send our best wishes for the good health and comfort for all the victims and their families.

I well remember those days of questions and confusion. When I found out I had Hepatitis C in early 2002, my husband and I were so stigmatized by the diagnosis that we told no one. We were alone in our worry and puzzlement. It wasn’t until several years later, after the public health investigation and discovery of facts through litigation, that we understood the cause and magnitude of the Nebraska Hepatitis C outbreak. The community was shocked that 99 people had been infected through re-use of syringes during chemotherapy at our local oncology clinic.

Once I learned that we had contracted this deadly disease through healthcare services, I let go of my feelings of stigma. Having Hepatitis C caused many difficult emotions, but shame was not one of them. I was frightened, confused and angry. I mourned the loss of good health, peace of mind and confidence in our healthcare system. I was overwhelmed with the amount of new information I had to process and the decisions I had to make regarding my health, my family’s welfare, my finances, and possible legal recourse.

Members of our community hosted several information sessions to address these questions. Some of us formed an informal support group. We learned to cope in the years following the Nebraska outbreak. I believe that the people of the North Dakota outbreak will as well. And we want to help you learn to cope.

At HONOReform, our primary aim is the elimination of outbreaks caused by lack of adherence to national injection safety standards. But, despite robust national awareness and advocacy for injection safety, outbreaks continue to occur. We offer our support to the people who are affected by outbreaks. We are glad for the opportunity—which is a privilege and at the center of our mission—to help support patients and communities as they learn to cope with the many consequences of an outbreak.

Steve Langan, executive director of HONOReform, is in Minot today, Monday, April 21. He would like to meet with Hepatitis C outbreak victims and family members to determine their needs and goals – and to see how HONOReform can help.

He will be meeting with victims/family members at the Hyatt House, which is located in north Minot at the junction of the 83 Bypass & 21st Avenue NW (2301 Landmark Drive). Steve will be available from 11-1 and 4-6 in the Hyatt’s gathering room (take a right after you enter the building and it is just a few steps down the hall). For those who cannot see Steve at Hyatt House, it is possible to schedule an appointment for him to come to them (between 1 and 4 pm and after 6 pm). Steve’s direct phone number is 402.659.6343 and his email address is steve@www.HONOReform.org. We encourage everyone to contact him anytime.

Una Jeringa, Una Sola Vez

February 3, 2014

Evelyn McKnight and Lauren Lollini

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 »

One IV Bag, One IV Tubing and Only One Time

January 6, 2014

Evelyn McKnight and Lauren Lollini

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 »

Collaborating to Make a Difference

November 18, 2013

Evelyn McKnight and Lauren Lollini

Lauren Lollini spoke at the NAADDI Health Facility Diversion Conference in Cincinnati, OH on October 28th.

Kim New, Lauren Lollini, John Burke

Once I was found to have Hepatitis C, while the walls appeared to be crumbling around me, I saw a light and chose to walk toward it. That light was the opportunity to share my story and reach out to others in an effort to make a difference. I did nothing more than relate the facts, share my emotion and help others understand the possibility of change.

My work with HONOReform became a very easy collaboration. Working with others who were as passionate as I to reach out and educate and explore the solutions to stopping outbreaks. HONOReform had made great strides forward in safeguarding the medical injection process.
read more »

“I know I have to forgive” – the Brader family story

November 11, 2013

Evelyn McKnight and Lauren Lollini

Amanda and Mary Brader

Dwight and Mary Brader had a storybook life. They had a loving marriage, a young daughter who was the apple of their eye, and they lived on a farm in Nebraska. Mary worked nights as a nurse at a hospital thirty minutes away and Dwight had just finished training as an electrician in addition to keeping up with the farm chores.

And then their lives took a sudden, sharp turn. Dwight was diagnosed with nonHodgkins lymphoma. The local oncologist was optimistic that Dwight would be cured, even though his tumor was the size of a grapefruit.

November 4, 2013

Evelyn McKnight and Lauren Lollini

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.

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