Hepatitis-infected patient ordered to submit to AIDS test

[Guest guest]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04323/413624.stm

Blood testing ordered for patient of a nurse pricked by his needle

Thursday, November 18, 2004

By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A nurse who accidentally was stuck by a needle that had been used on a

hepatitis-infected patient won a court order yesterday requiring the patient

to submit to tests for the AIDS virus.

In a case that some health officials call the first of its kind, the patient

had refused to provide blood samples for testing voluntarily.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge P. Horgos yesterday ordered the

patient to submit to the tests and to grant the nurse access to the results.

The patient, however, did not attend yesterday's hearing and ignored the

court's order to respond to the nurse's initial petition, and it was not

known yesterday whether he would be forced to submit if he does not do so

voluntarily.

" This is kind of a jolt to think that someone can be this callous to a

health care worker and her family, " Bill Borwegen, director of occupational

health and safety for Service Employees International Union, said in a

telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., office yesterday.

" I've never heard of it before, " he added.

The case, shrouded in confidentiality regulations, involves Pitts,

a nurse who has worked for the past two months at Mercy Hospital: North

Shore Campus, formerly Mercy Providence, on the North Side.

On Oct. 31, after administering an insulin shot to the patient, identified

in court papers as Doe, Pitts was accidentally pricked by the needle.

The patient, already diagnosed with hepatitis C, also has been a user of

illegal intravenous drugs. The man, a mental health patient, had been

voluntarily admitted at Mercy.

Because of the patient's history, doctors consider him at high risk for

having contracted human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS.

Immediately after Pitts was injured, doctors recommended that she begin

taking anti-AIDS medications, pending the outcome of tests for HIV on her

and her patient.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that health

care workers who are exposed as was Pitts should begin the anti-AIDS

treatments within hours of the needle stick.

The tests for HIV, and in Pitts' case, hepatitis, also should be done

immediately. Test results for Pitts and Doe would not be available to

them for about six months.

On Nov. 5, Pitts filed a petition in Common Pleas Court asking that the

patient be ordered to submit to the tests.

Borwegen and officials at Mercy Hospital said they are equally concerned

about the patient's confidentiality. Usually, he said, at-risk patients are

enthusiastic about being tested after a health care worker is exposed to

their bodily fluids in a way that could cause infection.

" It's incredible that someone could be so insensitive to the needs of the

worker, " Borwegen said.

K. Ross, spokeswoman for Mercy, said the hospital is concerned for

Pitts' health.

" The Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh is ... appreciative that the court saw the

importance in Ms. Pitts' request to compel the respondent to submit to

appropriate testing, and to allow Ms. Pitts access to the test results

within a timely manner, " Ross said in a written statement yesterday.

" We ask the public to please keep Ms. Pitts, her family, and the patient in

their thoughts and prayers. "

Borwegen said the union also is asking hospitals to invest in retractable

needles that would minimize the threat of similar incidents. He said

hospitals have resisted the change because the new needles are more costly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Jim McKinnon can be reached at jmckinnon@... or 412-263-1939.)

[Guest guest]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04323/413624.stm

Blood testing ordered for patient of a nurse pricked by his needle

Thursday, November 18, 2004

By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A nurse who accidentally was stuck by a needle that had been used on a

hepatitis-infected patient won a court order yesterday requiring the patient

to submit to tests for the AIDS virus.

In a case that some health officials call the first of its kind, the patient

had refused to provide blood samples for testing voluntarily.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge P. Horgos yesterday ordered the

patient to submit to the tests and to grant the nurse access to the results.

The patient, however, did not attend yesterday's hearing and ignored the

court's order to respond to the nurse's initial petition, and it was not

known yesterday whether he would be forced to submit if he does not do so

voluntarily.

" This is kind of a jolt to think that someone can be this callous to a

health care worker and her family, " Bill Borwegen, director of occupational

health and safety for Service Employees International Union, said in a

telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., office yesterday.

" I've never heard of it before, " he added.

The case, shrouded in confidentiality regulations, involves Pitts,

a nurse who has worked for the past two months at Mercy Hospital: North

Shore Campus, formerly Mercy Providence, on the North Side.

On Oct. 31, after administering an insulin shot to the patient, identified

in court papers as Doe, Pitts was accidentally pricked by the needle.

The patient, already diagnosed with hepatitis C, also has been a user of

illegal intravenous drugs. The man, a mental health patient, had been

voluntarily admitted at Mercy.

Because of the patient's history, doctors consider him at high risk for

having contracted human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS.

Immediately after Pitts was injured, doctors recommended that she begin

taking anti-AIDS medications, pending the outcome of tests for HIV on her

and her patient.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that health

care workers who are exposed as was Pitts should begin the anti-AIDS

treatments within hours of the needle stick.

The tests for HIV, and in Pitts' case, hepatitis, also should be done

immediately. Test results for Pitts and Doe would not be available to

them for about six months.

On Nov. 5, Pitts filed a petition in Common Pleas Court asking that the

patient be ordered to submit to the tests.

Borwegen and officials at Mercy Hospital said they are equally concerned

about the patient's confidentiality. Usually, he said, at-risk patients are

enthusiastic about being tested after a health care worker is exposed to

their bodily fluids in a way that could cause infection.

" It's incredible that someone could be so insensitive to the needs of the

worker, " Borwegen said.

K. Ross, spokeswoman for Mercy, said the hospital is concerned for

Pitts' health.

" The Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh is ... appreciative that the court saw the

importance in Ms. Pitts' request to compel the respondent to submit to

appropriate testing, and to allow Ms. Pitts access to the test results

within a timely manner, " Ross said in a written statement yesterday.

" We ask the public to please keep Ms. Pitts, her family, and the patient in

their thoughts and prayers. "

Borwegen said the union also is asking hospitals to invest in retractable

needles that would minimize the threat of similar incidents. He said

hospitals have resisted the change because the new needles are more costly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Jim McKinnon can be reached at jmckinnon@... or 412-263-1939.)

[Guest guest]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04323/413624.stm

Blood testing ordered for patient of a nurse pricked by his needle

Thursday, November 18, 2004

By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A nurse who accidentally was stuck by a needle that had been used on a

hepatitis-infected patient won a court order yesterday requiring the patient

to submit to tests for the AIDS virus.

In a case that some health officials call the first of its kind, the patient

had refused to provide blood samples for testing voluntarily.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge P. Horgos yesterday ordered the

patient to submit to the tests and to grant the nurse access to the results.

The patient, however, did not attend yesterday's hearing and ignored the

court's order to respond to the nurse's initial petition, and it was not

known yesterday whether he would be forced to submit if he does not do so

voluntarily.

" This is kind of a jolt to think that someone can be this callous to a

health care worker and her family, " Bill Borwegen, director of occupational

health and safety for Service Employees International Union, said in a

telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., office yesterday.

" I've never heard of it before, " he added.

The case, shrouded in confidentiality regulations, involves Pitts,

a nurse who has worked for the past two months at Mercy Hospital: North

Shore Campus, formerly Mercy Providence, on the North Side.

On Oct. 31, after administering an insulin shot to the patient, identified

in court papers as Doe, Pitts was accidentally pricked by the needle.

The patient, already diagnosed with hepatitis C, also has been a user of

illegal intravenous drugs. The man, a mental health patient, had been

voluntarily admitted at Mercy.

Because of the patient's history, doctors consider him at high risk for

having contracted human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS.

Immediately after Pitts was injured, doctors recommended that she begin

taking anti-AIDS medications, pending the outcome of tests for HIV on her

and her patient.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that health

care workers who are exposed as was Pitts should begin the anti-AIDS

treatments within hours of the needle stick.

The tests for HIV, and in Pitts' case, hepatitis, also should be done

immediately. Test results for Pitts and Doe would not be available to

them for about six months.

On Nov. 5, Pitts filed a petition in Common Pleas Court asking that the

patient be ordered to submit to the tests.

Borwegen and officials at Mercy Hospital said they are equally concerned

about the patient's confidentiality. Usually, he said, at-risk patients are

enthusiastic about being tested after a health care worker is exposed to

their bodily fluids in a way that could cause infection.

" It's incredible that someone could be so insensitive to the needs of the

worker, " Borwegen said.

K. Ross, spokeswoman for Mercy, said the hospital is concerned for

Pitts' health.

" The Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh is ... appreciative that the court saw the

importance in Ms. Pitts' request to compel the respondent to submit to

appropriate testing, and to allow Ms. Pitts access to the test results

within a timely manner, " Ross said in a written statement yesterday.

" We ask the public to please keep Ms. Pitts, her family, and the patient in

their thoughts and prayers. "

Borwegen said the union also is asking hospitals to invest in retractable

needles that would minimize the threat of similar incidents. He said

hospitals have resisted the change because the new needles are more costly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Jim McKinnon can be reached at jmckinnon@... or 412-263-1939.)

[Guest guest]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04323/413624.stm

Blood testing ordered for patient of a nurse pricked by his needle

Thursday, November 18, 2004

By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A nurse who accidentally was stuck by a needle that had been used on a

hepatitis-infected patient won a court order yesterday requiring the patient

to submit to tests for the AIDS virus.

In a case that some health officials call the first of its kind, the patient

had refused to provide blood samples for testing voluntarily.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge P. Horgos yesterday ordered the

patient to submit to the tests and to grant the nurse access to the results.

The patient, however, did not attend yesterday's hearing and ignored the

court's order to respond to the nurse's initial petition, and it was not

known yesterday whether he would be forced to submit if he does not do so

voluntarily.

" This is kind of a jolt to think that someone can be this callous to a

health care worker and her family, " Bill Borwegen, director of occupational

health and safety for Service Employees International Union, said in a

telephone interview from his Washington, D.C., office yesterday.

" I've never heard of it before, " he added.

The case, shrouded in confidentiality regulations, involves Pitts,

a nurse who has worked for the past two months at Mercy Hospital: North

Shore Campus, formerly Mercy Providence, on the North Side.

On Oct. 31, after administering an insulin shot to the patient, identified

in court papers as Doe, Pitts was accidentally pricked by the needle.

The patient, already diagnosed with hepatitis C, also has been a user of

illegal intravenous drugs. The man, a mental health patient, had been

voluntarily admitted at Mercy.

Because of the patient's history, doctors consider him at high risk for

having contracted human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, which causes AIDS.

Immediately after Pitts was injured, doctors recommended that she begin

taking anti-AIDS medications, pending the outcome of tests for HIV on her

and her patient.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that health

care workers who are exposed as was Pitts should begin the anti-AIDS

treatments within hours of the needle stick.

The tests for HIV, and in Pitts' case, hepatitis, also should be done

immediately. Test results for Pitts and Doe would not be available to

them for about six months.

On Nov. 5, Pitts filed a petition in Common Pleas Court asking that the

patient be ordered to submit to the tests.

Borwegen and officials at Mercy Hospital said they are equally concerned

about the patient's confidentiality. Usually, he said, at-risk patients are

enthusiastic about being tested after a health care worker is exposed to

their bodily fluids in a way that could cause infection.

" It's incredible that someone could be so insensitive to the needs of the

worker, " Borwegen said.

K. Ross, spokeswoman for Mercy, said the hospital is concerned for

Pitts' health.

" The Mercy Hospital of Pittsburgh is ... appreciative that the court saw the

importance in Ms. Pitts' request to compel the respondent to submit to

appropriate testing, and to allow Ms. Pitts access to the test results

within a timely manner, " Ross said in a written statement yesterday.

" We ask the public to please keep Ms. Pitts, her family, and the patient in

their thoughts and prayers. "

Borwegen said the union also is asking hospitals to invest in retractable

needles that would minimize the threat of similar incidents. He said

hospitals have resisted the change because the new needles are more costly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Jim McKinnon can be reached at jmckinnon@... or 412-263-1939.)