Harris, NY – Sullivan County Hospital Alerts Patients To Possible HIV Exposure After Misuse Of Insulin Pens For 6 Yrs.

Harris, NY – In a warning issued yesterday by Catskill Regional Medical Center, the upstate New York hospital announced that patients who received insulin injections over the past six years may have been injected with an insulation injection pen that had previously been used on other patients.

The press release issued by the hospital, which is located in Harris and serves Sullivan County and its surrounding areas, says that the reuse of pens occurred from 2007 through May 2013.

Ironically, Catskill Regional Medical Center offers a Diabetes Self-Management Training Program aimed at teaching patients how to safely manage their diabetes which includes training in insulin injection techniques. The warning advises patients that while it is unaware of any contamination that may have occurred due to the mistake, they should be tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV.

Rob Lee, administrator for public relations and marketing at the hospital told the Times Herald Record that the problem was discovered during “routine nursing education on the use of insulin pens.” According to Lee, the number of patients affected by the mistake is still unknown.

Catskill Regional Medical Center will be notifying all patients who may be at risk via mail and is offering free and confidential blood testing, which can be arranged by calling 800-277-4221. Hospital CEO and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gerard Galarneau has apologized for the mistake and says that steps have already been taken to prevent any recurrence of the problem.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an alert to health care professionals regarding the sharing of insulin pens between patients in 2009, after receiving reports of improper use of pens in a Texas hospital from over a two year period starting in 2007.

A clinical reminder issued by the Centers for Disease Control in January 2012 warns that while insulin pens are designed for multiple use, they are not meant to be shared between patients, because blood can be introduced into the insulin cartridge during the injection process, allowing for the possible transmission of blood borne pathogens between patients who use the same insulin pen.

The CDC introduced an injection safety campaign in April 2012 titled “One and Only” which directly addresses insulin injections, with the slogan “Be Aware, Don’t Share. One Insulin Pen, Only One Person.” According to the CDC, more than 125,000 patients were notified of potential exposure to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV through unsafe injection practices since 1999.

According to reports on CBS News, two New York hospitals released similar warnings in January, with the VA Medical Center in Buffalo notifying more than 700 patients that they may have been exposed to chronic diseases and Olean General Hospital in Western New York warning 1,915 patients that they too may be at risk for certain infectious diseases after receiving insulin from a reused injection pen over a three year period.