TopClassActions  |  September 9, 2013

Category: Legal News

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Class Action Lawsuit Says Oral Surgeon Exposed Patients to Hepatitis, HIV

By Anne Bucher

class action lawsuitA Tulsa oral surgeon who allegedly exposed close to 7,000 of his patients to hepatitis and HIV has been hit with a class action lawsuit.

The class action lawsuit was filed by seven plaintiffs in Tulsa County District Court on September 3. The complaint lists Wayne Scott Harrington, his oral surgery practice, his staff and several pharmaceutical companies as defendants.

The seven plaintiffs were patients of Harrington’s. According to the class action lawsuit, they were exposed to infectious diseases through contaminated propofol vials. Propofol is an anesthetic that is commonly used during surgical procedures. 

 

“Plaintiffs are informed and believe they were exposed to contaminated propofol vials and/or equipment not effectively sterilized by autoclave components, at the dental clinics which resulted in Plaintiffs contracting infectious diseases,” the class action lawsuit says. The plaintiffs claim that Harrington’s practice failed to adequately train its staff, which led to unsanitary practices. Five of the plaintiffs say they were diagnosed with an infectious disease due to the actions of Harrison and his staff. 

In March 2013, the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry launched an investigation into Harrington’s dental practice after one of his patients tested positive for hepatitis C. In their report, they listed numerous violations by Harrington and his staff. During the investigation, inspectors found that the clinic followed improper sterilization practices and lacked written infection prevention policies. They also found that Harrington allowed unlicensed staff members to perform medical tasks such as performing IV sedation and taking radiographs.

State and local health officials found that Harrington exposed close to 5,000 patients to infectious diseases. The officials informed more than 7,000 of Harrington’s patients that they may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV due to the clinic’s improper and unsanitary sterilization practices. 

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported that 77 of Harringtons former patients tested positive for hepatitis C. Five tested positive for hepatitis B and four tested positive for HIV. However, they have not concluded that the diseases were contracted at Harrington’s practice.

Plaintiffs included the manufacturers of propofol, claiming that they continued to make, market and sell multi-use vials of the anesthetic, even though they were aware that the vials could be contaminated and expose patients to disease. According to the class action lawsuit, Hospira, Pharmaceutical Systems and Southern Anesthesia knew that the smaller vial sizes were safer for oral surgery centers given the amount of propofol typically used by such centers and the economic allure of such centers to use, instead of discarding, remaining propofol in a larger vial. They allege that these drug manufacturers knew that it was unreasonably dangerous to use large vials of propofol in an oral surgery center.

As a result of the medical care and treatment of Defendants employees and/or agents, Defendants breached their duty to Plaintiffs by failing to employ professional personnel adequately trained to protect their patients from foreseeable harm, resulting in exposure to and contraction of infectious diseases, the class action lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages in excess of $10,000, as well as punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and court costs. 

 

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