Report: More Testing Needed at Dayton VA Medical Center Over Infection Control Dental Clinic Flap

The flap over the Dayton Veterans Administration Medical Center's dental clinic continues.

The Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association released a report Monday calling for the Dayton VA to notify and test thousands of dental patients, who could have been put at risk by poor disease control practices.

GDAHA has been investigating the Dayton VA since dentist Dwight Pemberton was accused of not changing gloves between patients and thereby putting them at risk for infection from diseases like hepatitis or HIV.

Since then the Dayton VA has contacted and tested roughly 535 veterans who underwent invasive medical procedures, like root canals, and could have been infected. Three tested positive for hepatitis, although whether they contracted it from the clinic is unknown. Still the Dayton VA has offered to take care of them.

Dayton VA officials also say that they've offered to test any veteran who was a patient at the clinic, but GDAHA's latest report says the VA hasn't gone far enough. It wants the Dayton VA to go the extra step of contacting and then testing the thousands of patients who visited Pemberton while he was at the VA.

"My office will continue to push the VA both in Washington and here locally to expand the testing," Rep. Mike Turner (R, 3rd District) says.

Turner and GDAHA also say the Dayton VA has yet to turnover some documents they've requested. VA officials say they haven't done so because those documents are "protected."

This has been a "train wreck" from the start and all of Dr. Dwight Pemberton's patients should be tested, if they request it. This lack of prudent oversight and supervision of the dentist will cost the VA system and American taxpayers $ millions.

Here is the television coverage of the flap:

Calls for more testing at Dayton VA: wdtn.com