City gives free flu shots, chance to be infected with HIV and hepatitis
The Monroe, Connecticut Medical Director has resigned after acknowledging administering flu shots to 468 people without using a fresh syringe for each person. The physician, Dr. Claude Light, says that he did not know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention require that the syringe and needle be changed with each shot. "I thought the procedure I was using was perfectly acceptable," Dr. Light told AP. "When (the standards) changed I probably should have changed, but I didn't know. I thought what I was doing was risk free, no problem." Those who received the shots are naturally upset, concerned they may have been exposed to HIV or hepatitis. The Connecticut Department of Public Health and Addiction Services claims that the risk of infection is "extremely low." No word on the historical accuracy of claims by that agency.
(AP, Oct. 29, 1997)
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