Hundreds line up to get tested for HIV and hepatitis after being informed their Oklahoma dentist used rusty instruments and reused needles
By Daily Mail Reporter and Associated Press Reporter|
About 150 to 200 patients of a Tulsa oral surgeon accused of unsanitary practices queued outside a health clinic Saturday, hoping to discover whether they were exposed to hepatitis or the virus that causes AIDS.
Letters began going out in stages Friday to 7,000 patients who had seen Dr. W. Scott Harrington during the past six years — warning them that poor hygiene at his clinics created a public health hazard.
The one-page letter said how and where to seek treatment but couldn't explain why Harrington's allegedly unsafe practices went on for so long.
Nearly 200 patients of Dr. W. Scott Harrington
line up outside the Tulsa Health Department North Regional Health and
Wellness Center in Tulsa to be tested for HIV and hepatitis
Kari Childress, 38, showed up at the Tulsa Health Department North Regional Health and Wellness Center at 8:30 a.m., mainly because she was nervous.
'I just hope I don't have anything,' said Childress, who had a tooth extracted at one of Harrington's two clinics five months ago. 'You trust and believe in doctors to follow the rules, and that's the scariest part.'
Robbi Scott, who had a tooth pulled at Harrington's office in December, told CBS Tulsa affiliate KOTV-TV she never expected a trip to the dentist would put her in the position she's in now.
'I don't step out of the box to do anything risky, so for this to be-- I'm just, like, I'm overwhelmed, actually,' Scott said.
Scott and her eldest son Colton Scott, an Oklahoma State University student who had his wisdom teeth pulled at Harrington's office last year, told KOTV-TV their IV sedation was done by a dental assistant, a serious procedure health officials say the assistants weren't licensed to do.
'It's scary,' Colton Scott told KOTV-TV. 'It's scary to think about that something like this could happen. I mean, you would never suspect something like this would happen, and I'm thinking, you know, how's this gonna impact me going forward in the future?'Scroll down for video
Investigated: A health scare was sparked over
the work of Dr Wayne Harrington, an oral surgeon in Tulsa, after one of
his patients recently tested positive for hepatitis C and HIV
Both were both tested for diseases Friday and expect to receive the results Monday.
Health inspectors found expired morphine and dirty, rusty instruments that were used on patients with infectious diseases inside an Oklahoma dental clinic, putting thousands of people at risk for hepatitis and the virus that causes AIDS.
Health officials opened their investigation after a patient with no known risk factors tested positive for both hepatitis C and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. After determining the 'index patient' had a dental procedure about the likely time of exposure, investigators visited Harrington's office and found a number of unsafe practices, state epidemiologist Kristy Bradley said.
'I want to stress that this is not an outbreak. The investigation is still very much in its early stages,' Bradley said.
Inspectors allege workers at his two clinics risked cross-contamination to the point that the state Dentistry Board branded Harrington a 'menace to the public health.'
Health inspectors found expired morphine and dirty, rusty instruments that were used on patients with infectious diseases inside an Oklahoma dental clinic, putting thousands of people at risk for hepatitis and the virus that causes AIDS.
Health officials opened their investigation after a patient with no known risk factors tested positive for both hepatitis C and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. After determining the 'index patient' had a dental procedure about the likely time of exposure, investigators visited Harrington's office and found a number of unsafe practices, state epidemiologist Kristy Bradley said.
'I want to stress that this is not an outbreak. The investigation is still very much in its early stages,' Bradley said.
Inspectors allege workers at his two clinics risked cross-contamination to the point that the state Dentistry Board branded Harrington a 'menace to the public health.'
Shocking: Health officials are urging 7,000
patients of an Oklahoma dentist (pictured Dr. W. Scott Harrington's
dental office in Tulsa) to seek medical tests to ensure they haven't
been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS
Harrington told officials he left questions about sterilization and drug procedures to his employees.
'They take care of that, I don't,' the dentistry board quoted him as saying.
The doctor also is accused of letting his assistants perform tasks only a licensed dentist should have done, including administering IV sedation. The complaint says the doctor's staff could not produce permits for the assistants when asked.
Susan Rogers, executive director of the state Dentistry Board, said that as an oral surgeon Harrington regularly did invasive procedures involving 'pulling teeth, open wounds, open blood vessels.' The board's complaint also noted Harrington and his staff told investigators a 'high population of known infectious disease carrier patients' received dental care from him.
Despite the high-risk clientele, a device used to sterilize instruments wasn't being properly used and hadn't been tested in six years, the board complaint said. Tests are required monthly.
Also, a drug vial found at a clinic this year had an expiration date of 1993 and one assistant's drug log said morphine had been used in the clinic last year despite its not receiving any morphine shipments since 2009.
Health risk: The agencies said they found 'major violations' of the Oklahoma Dental Act (pictured the dental office is Owasso)
Investigation: Letters were sent to 7,000
patients from Harrington's clinics in Tulsa and suburban Owasso since
2007 recommending testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV (stock
photos)
'The office looked clean,' said Joyce Baylor, who had a tooth pulled at Harrington's Tulsa office 1½ years ago. In an interview, Baylor, 69, said she'll be tested next week to determine whether she contracted any infection.
'I'm sure he's not suffering financially that he can't afford instruments,' Baylor said of Harrington.
Harrington voluntarily gave up his license, closed his offices in Tulsa and suburban Owasso, and is cooperating with investigators, said Kaitlin Snider, a spokeswoman for the Tulsa Health Department. He faces a hearing April 19, when his license could be permanently revoked.
'It's uncertain how long those practices have been in place,' Snider said. 'He's been practicing for 36 years.'
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is consulting on the case, and agency spokeswoman Abbigail Tumpey said such situations involving dental clinics are rare. Last year a Colorado oral surgeon was accused of reusing needles and syringes, prompting letters to 8,000 patients, Tumpey said. It wasn't clear whether anyone was actually infected.
'We've only had a handful of dental facilities where we've had notifications in the last decade,' Tumpey said.
The Oklahoma Dentistry Board lodged a 17-count complaint against Harrington, saying he was a 'menace to the public health by reasons of practicing dentistry in an unsafe or unsanitary manner.' Among the claims was one detailing the use of rusty instruments in patients known to have infectious diseases.
'The CDC has determined that rusted instruments are porous and cannot be properly sterilized,' the board said.
Health officials are sending letters to 7,000 known patients but cautioned that they don't know who visited his clinics before 2007. The letters urge the patients to be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV — viruses typically spread through intravenous drug use or unprotected sex, not occupational settings.
Harrington could not be reached for comment Thursday. A message at his Tulsa office said it was closed, and the doctor's answering service referred callers to the Tulsa Health Department. Phone numbers listed for Harrington were disconnected. A message left with Harrington's malpractice attorney in Tulsa, Jim Secrest II, was not immediately returned.
Harrington's Tulsa practice is in a tony part of town, on a row of some of the city's most upscale medical practices. The white-and-green stucco, two-story dental clinic has the doctor's name in letters on the facade.
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