OCEANSIDE, N.Y., March 13 (UPI) -- Thousands of patients at a New York hospital were alerted they may have been infected with hepatitis or HIV, hospital officials said.
Officials at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, N.Y., said they were notifying 4,000 patients being treated for diabetes they may have received insulin injections from a pen reservoir that could have been used by more than one patient, WCBS-TV, New York, reported Thursday.
A hospital statement said the component that may have been reused was the reservoir, where the hormone in the insulin pen is stored until injection, not the single-use needles in the pen.
The hospital said blood may have flowed back into the chamber and contaminated the insulin, WCBS said.
A hospital spokesman said in a statement that while "the risk of infection from this is extremely low, nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, the hospital is recommending that patients receiving the notification be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV," the virus that causes AIDS.
South Nassau Communities Hospital has banned use of insulin pens and now only permits single-patient-use vials for insulin treatments, WCBS said.
The hospital said it will offer patients free and confidential blood testing services.
