The Veterans Affairs colonoscopy tragedy is getting worse.

Now it is believed a patient was exposed to AIDS through unsterilized equipment.

How could something like this happen?

A colonoscopy is bad enough under normal conditions, but this explanation from the makers of the equipment could send chills down a lot of spines.

"…inadvertently neglecting to appropriately reprocess a specific auxiliary water tube."

As we have talked about before, our aging parents depend upon us to be their advocates.  With reports like this, our help is needed more than ever.

We need to know it's okay to be ever vigilant and to ask questions about our parents' medical care. 

There are some VA patients who probably wished they had asked more about their treatments.

Read VA patient test HIV positive after clinic mistake

Popularity: 1% [?]

• 13 Quick Facts About Dementia  If you have a loved one who may have dementia, you need  clear, easy to understand  dementia information which will help you better cope with  their condition.Here are  13  quick  facts about dementia.1.Dementia is a brain disorder which robs the patient of his ability to perform basic daily activities and tasks.2.The most common form of......
• We're Always On Call with Our Aging Parents Journalist Paula Span has brought out a very important elder care point in "We Are Not the Boss of Them." She goes on to discuss one of our biggest problems we experience with our aging parents in her book, When the Time Comes: Families with Aging Parents Share Their Struggles......
• The Dreaded 'Talk' with Your Elderly Parents Have you had 'the talk' with your elderly parents yet? Barbara McVicker was forced to talk to her elderly parent after he had lost $68,000 of his savings to a lottery fraud. McVicker, who writes and lectures about eldercare concerns found herself discussing a move to a retirement community and......
• Church Nurses Help Elderly with Better Care Options  Church nurses can find better care options for aging patients, explain medications, and teach chronic disease management.They are filling in the gaps for senior citizens who are often confused by an increasingly  fragmented health care system.According to Alvyne Rethemyer, director of  the International Parish Nurse Resource Center, helping the sick......
• A Social Worker Gives Good Advice for Taking Care of Aging Parents Social worker Dawn Mathews has an info- packed article about caring for your aging parents. Because of her training, Dawn has been able to spot many aging problems involving her 81-year-old Dad early. She tells about such details that we should be on the look-out for such eating properly and......

• What can I do to get dental care without dental insurance? Hi everyone, I'm a 2x veteran that seperated from the Army, recently I have trouble finding a dentist that will provide dental care under a Vet Affairs dental reimbursement program. Because I have one missing tooth (pre-existing cond.), the costs for the dental implant exceeded the VA fee schedule, therefore......
• Benefits of team approach in Rehabilitation of Brain injury patients Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a complex injury to the brain and occurs when an outside force traumatically injures the brain. It has a broad spectrum of symptoms and disabilities, affecting the day to day functioning of a patient. The impact of the injury on a person and his or......
• Caring for a Violin Instrument Care: Make sure that you tighten up your bow before you play. The way that you can achieve this is by turning your instrument's tension screw. You are going to want to avoid allowing the hairs of the bow to become too taut, as the separation between the hair......
• Should You Be Leasing Technical Equipment? One of the biggest expenses that any enterprise faces is the purchase of new technical equipment. Given the cash flow crunch in most small businesses, outright purchase of new equipment might not be feasible. Added to that is the fact that computers and other technological equipment quickly become obsolete.......
• Jumpstart Medicine I highly recommend Jumpstart. In fact, I have a special offer for anyone in wanting to try Jumpstart in Redwood City or Mountain View: $25 off your first visit (just print it and bring it to your appointment). With four locations in California, Jump Start Medicine provides its patients with......