The Department of Veterans Affairs will waive the cost of treating patients diagnosed with HIV or Hepatitis after receiving colonoscopies at the VA hospital in Murfreesboro.
Congressman Bart Gordon asked VA officials last month to waive any co-pays associated with care of infected patients. He says the request was made “forcefully” that these people be given the benefit of the doubt, even if their infections couldn’t be directly linked with unsterile colonoscopy procedures. Gordon received a letter back Wednesday.
“I think certainly they feel a responsibility. And they’ve got a duty to earn the trust of the veterans back.”
Gordon says the least the VA can do is waive co-pays and says more may need to be done for the patients in the future. 65-hundred patients in Middle Tennessee have been tested for HIV and Hepatitis, with 32 positive results.
Unsterile endoscopic exams were also found in Miami and Augusta, Georgia. The VA maintains the infections are likely not related to the botched procedures.
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