Dental Aches Got You Down? You Have No Idea… CPT (r) Tyler Merritt December 5, 2016 Veteran Inspired 12 And here it is, yet again — the VA giving veterans another chance to die for their country. This time, however, it isn’t coming from the usual place. Now, it’s coming from their dental facility in Wisconsin. What Happened This Time? One of the dentists at the VA Dental facility at the Tomah VA Medical Center in Wisconsin failed to properly sterilize the equipment he used on patients. As such, the VA has sent out warning letters to almost 600 of its patients in order to notify them that — surprise, you might have HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C. These diseases are no joke. HIV — Human Immunodeficiency Virus — is the precursor to AIDS, a disease that claimed 6,721 people in 2014. Hepatitis B is a disease which attacks the liver and can be very problematic, and though there is fortunately a vaccine, that only helps when administered prior to exposure to the virus. Hepatitis C also attacks the liver, but there is currently no FDA approved vaccine or cure for this disease. Its effects can be short or life-long, depending on the individual. The letters that went out to the 592 total veterans stated that everyone who was at risk needed to come in and get tested for these viruses. If anyone tests positive, they will receive VA medical care for life. So That Means… Awesome. In short, if any one of the patients tests positive, they get to go back to the same institution that infected them for all of their medical care for life. This is quite ridiculous, as one of the most common consequences for, say, a restaurant that gives a customer food poisoning, is that the customer never has to visit the establishment again. With the VA, this isn’t an option. To be fair, it appears to only be one individual who is ultimately responsible for this catastrophe, and we get that sometimes, people screw up. Unfortunately, this dentist apparently screwed up for over a year. This is a pretty egregious breach of trust, by any standard. This is for the care of those who sacrificed greatly of themselves to serve their country. And now, some of them might have contracted some of the worst diseases on the planet (or at least incurable). Surely, there will be repercussions for the dentist and there will likely be some sort of change in order to ensure this doesn’t happen again. At least, that’s what will come out. The sad part of this is when we ask, how many more times does this have to happen? What things do other medical institutions do that the VA isn’t? Anything that affects this many veterans is something that could potentially happen to any of our community. The VA needs to get in front of this in a major way. The Worst Part It seems that the worst part is that, just like people avoid recalled foods for long periods of time (and sometimes for life), medical care is essential. And in these days where healthcare costs are already sky high, many veterans — who disproportionately face poverty in comparison to the rest of the population — can’t afford private healthcare. Thus, the VA is their only option. And now, for those veterans who are the most vulnerable, they might start to think that the safest option is to just stay home. We need to demand better from Washington. Lord knows, veterans have paid the price of freedom — they deserve better.
