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Brown, Turner call for VA dental task force

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Staff Report 11:40 AM Thursday, April 7, 2011

DAYTON — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Centerville) on Thursday called on Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to establish a task force dedicated to investigate issues surrounding misconduct at the Dayton VA Medical Center.

“We must determine how, for more than 18 years, the VA allowed patient care to erode to the point where hundreds of patients at Dayton had to be tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV because they were exposed to blood borne pathogens as a result of their care,” the letter reads.

The task force, as proposed, would review all of VISN 10’s facilities, activities and services, which includes all VA facilities in Ohio and parts of Indiana and Kentucky.

“Those who enabled this to happen must be held accountable,” the letter reads. “We must also identify the source of this problem and ensure that a similar working environment has not taken root at any other VA medical facility.”

The Dayton VA Medical Center in recent months has been rocked by a scandal in its dental clinic. Between January 1992 and July 2010, VA officials said a dentist failed to change gloves and sterilize instruments between patients, potentially putting at least 535 patients at risk for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. So far, two patients have tested newly positive for hepatitis B.

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