More than 200 patients treated at UPMC Jameson Hospital may have been exposed to improperly cleaned ultrasound probes.  Hospitals must follow strict procedures for the cleaning and disinfection of ultrasound probes and similar instruments that doctors insert inside patients’ bodies.  Regrettably, when hospitals fail to properly train and supervise their employees, bugs can remain on or inside medical instruments due to improper cleaning.

When the Congress under the Clinton administration passed the health information portability and privacy act commonly known and referenced as HIPPA there was a recognition that while healthcare would benefit from the creation of electronic medical records that such a development also posed inherent problems. Electronic records are easily modified deleted and viewed without detection. In order to assure the integrity of our electronic medical records regulations were promulgated to address these problems.

Attorney Brendan Lupetin has filed a class-action lawsuit against University of Pittsburgh Medical Center on behalf of a patient that was exposed to tuberculosis by a UPMC emergency room nurse in on October 31, 2017.

The hospital, after discovering in March 2018 that the nurse was infected with TB believes that patients were exposed during the period of October 28, 2017 – February 28, 2018. The hospital informed 4,700 patients of the potential exposure that they needed to be tested for tuberculosis.

Nail salons can be the source of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other infectious agents including hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. Patrons can contract these biologic hazards from salons that re-use utensils and instruments without properly cleaning them between patrons or ineffectively clean equipment. Bacteria and fungus from unclean nail tools can contribute to other serious conditions such as thrombophlebitis, osteomyelitis, and sepsis which require extensive and expensive medical attention to treat or cure.