Mistake At William Beaumont Hospital Puts Thousands At Risk

by Derek Shore

Army Medical Center announced Thursday that 2,114 diabetic patients treated at the hospital may be at risk for contracting blood-borne illnesses.

"I would like to say that the staff of William Beaumont Army Medical Center deeply regrets that this situation has occurred," Col. Jim Baumchauk, of William Beaumont, said.

Hospital administrators told KFOX, diabetic patients at the hospital were being injected with insulin improperly. A medical injection pen was being used on more than one patient. Even though the needle was changed with each patient, there are fears the insulin reservoir may have contained diseases from past patients, which has sparked the fear of contamination.

Doctors said the patients could be at risk of being given blood-borne diseases from August 2007 until last Friday.

Some blood-bourne diseases include Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, as well as HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"We need to investigate, and we need get to the root of what happened there,” Sen. Eliott Shapleigh said.

Shapleigh told KFOX he was very upset by the news, and has requested an independent investigation from both the state veterans’ commission as well as the attorney general.

“If there is medical care that they need to be made whole, if there is something we can do to make sure that they don’t get that disease, right now is the time to step in and help," Shapleigh said.

If you have questions about your recent care, William Beaumont Army Medical Center has set up a toll-free hotline at 1-866-770-0194.