OKLAHOMA CITY, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- More than 800 past patients at a Norman hospital are being tested for hepatitis C because state health officials say a nurse anesthetist repeatedly used the same syringe and needle for injections, a newspaper reported Friday.
Dr. Mike Crutcher, the state epidemiologist, said the nurse used improper practices with patients at Norman Regional Hospital and at two Oklahoma City pain management clinics. The nurse has been barred from the hospital and he is under investigation.
"By my understanding, this is the biggest outbreak of hepatitis C that has taken place as the result of transmissions within a health care facility," Crutcher told the Daily Oklahoman.
Concerns at the Norman hospital have caused the testing of 850 people who have been patients since May 1, 1999. At least 52 of them have tested positive for the disease so far.
The nurse's accrediting agency said the repeated use of the syringe and needle was contrary to standard infection control guidelines.
"At no point in time and in no way, shape or form would we endorse or advise the reuse of needles or syringes. By doing so ... the results could be catastrophic," said Chris Bettin, a spokesman for the American Association of Nurse Attendants.
Crutcher said the nurse "didn't think he was putting anyone at risk" but most medical practitioners would consider his actions "extremely abnormal."
The nurse did not test positive for hepatitis C and health officials have not been able to pinpoint which patients at the hospital was infected and passed it on. It is unknown how many patients at the Oklahoma City pain clinics were exposed.
The nurse most often used the syringe and needle to inject anesthetic medications into intravenous lines for chronic back or neck pain under the supervision of a doctor, the state health officials said.
Crutcher said he doesn't believe the nurse intended any harm but failed to understand proper procedure. The nurse is a nursing school graduate and has been a registered nurse since 1975. He had been certified as a nurse anesthetist in Oklahoma since 1991.
More than 20 former patients have sued the hospital, doctor and nurse.
