DM -An Oklahoma dentist accused of putting thousands of patients at risk of Hepatitis and HIV because he prodded their mouths with filthy instruments has been found hiding out in Arizona. Health officials opened their investigation into Harrington's surgeries after a patient with no known risk factors tested positive for both hepatitis C and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. It turned out the person was a patient of Harrington's and had recently had a dental procedure at one of his clinics. As some 7,000 patients began getting checked for hepatitis or HIV on the weekend, the Tulsa oral surgeon, Dr W. Scott Harrington, who has refused to comment on the allegations of dangerously poor hygiene at his clinics, was holed up at his second home in Phoenix, ABC News reported. Harrington told officials he left questions about sterilization and drug procedures to his employees. 'They take care of that, I don't,' the dentistry board quoted him as saying. The doctor also is accused of letting his assistants perform tasks only a licensed dentist should have done, including administering IV sedation. The complaint says the doctor's staff could not produce permits for the assistants when asked. Susan Rogers, executive director of the state Dentistry Board, said that as an oral surgeon Harrington regularly did invasive procedures involving 'pulling teeth, open wounds, open blood vessels.' The board's complaint also noted Harrington and his staff told investigators a 'high population of known infectious disease carrier patients' received dental care from him. Despite the high-risk clientele, a device used to sterilize instruments wasn't being properly used and hadn't been tested in six years, the board complaint said. Tests are required monthly. Also, a drug vial found at a clinic this year had an expiration date of 1993 and one assistant's drug log said morphine had been used in the clinic last year despite its not receiving any morphine shipments since 2009.
This story puke city. I'm getting AIDS just thinking about getting AIDS at the dentist. This guy is all like "thats not my job i dont handle that stuff". Uhhh doc, you ever think about checking how clean your office was when your hygenists were handing you already been used floss? Seems like having sterile equipment is dentistry 101. Its a mathematical fact that nobody likes the dentist. The only good part about having a dentist appoint is when I'm leaving. And my worst complaint when I leave the dentist is that the hygenist had absolutely no regard for my gums with the floss. These people are wondering if they have cavities AND hepatitis. This dentist is the reason there are anti-dentites in the world.
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