Hundreds of patients who visited hospitals in Portland, Oregon, may have been exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases such as hepatitis B and C, as well as HIV, as an anesthesiologist may not have followed the proper procedures while administering anesthetic drugs, health officials say.
Providence and Legacy Health announced in separate statements that more than 2,400 patients in total could be exposed and are in the process of being notified. They encouraged people to get a free blood test from the non-profit hospital systems in order to screen for possible infections.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) said that investigations into the breach centered around a physician who delivered intravenous anesthesia — injecting anesthetic drugs into a patient's vein to put them to sleep — and employed "unacceptable infection control practices, which put patients at risk of infections." The exact details about how the procedures were not followed have not been revealed.
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Providence, the not-for-profit Catholic health care system, told Fox News Digital in a statement that it is notifying about 2,200 potentially impacted people seen at Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center in Oregon City and two patients seen at Providence Portland Medical Center. The group said that the physician’s actions might have put them at a "low risk of exposure to possible infections" and it will reach out to discuss test results and next steps if a patient tests positive.
"Patient safety is our number one priority, and our patients have our full commitment to a thorough review of this issue and appropriate action," Providence said in its statement.
The physician, who has not been named, was employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG) and worked at the two Providence facilities between 2017 and 2023. The physician is no longer employed by OAG, a third-party contractor, who said that it has implemented new protocols and procedures to prevent future incidents.
The physician also worked at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham for six months starting in December 2023.
Legacy Health, a non-profit hospital system based in Portland, said it was sending letters to 221 patients who may have been affected, Fox 59 reports. Legacy added that it "immediately suspended" the provider after learning of the situation.
"Our community should know that this was an isolated situation involving a single provider, contracted with the Oregon Anesthesiology Group to provide care at Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center for approximately six months beginning in December of 2023," the group said in the statement.
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In a statement, the Oregon Anesthesiology Group said the physician has been terminated.
"When we learned that the physician had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, informed our partners Legacy Health and Providence, and then began an investigation that resulted in the physician’s termination," the group said in its statement. "Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future."
OHA says it is working with Legacy and Providence on their investigations of breaches of infection control practices.
So far, neither OHA nor the hospitals are aware of any reports of illness associated with this infection control breach, the health authority said.
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver and the condition is often caused by a virus. Hepatitis B and C symptoms include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, dark urine or clay-colored stools and fatigue, according to HIV.gov, a site operated by the Department of Health & Human Services.
When severe, acute hepatitis can lead to liver failure, which can lead to death, the WHO says.
HIV infections, meanwhile, often start with flu-like symptoms and can lead to a weakening of the immune system by destroying T-cells until those infected are unable to fight off minor illnesses. HIV can be fatal if left untreated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
