Colorado Dentist And HIV Risk

Colorado Dentist And HIV Risk  - A Colorado dentist and oral surgeon put his patients at risk for contracting HIV and hepatitis due to unsafe injection practices, and state officials are set to notify patients who saw Dr. Stephen Stein over a 12-year period to inform them of their risk.The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stressed that “there have been no infections linked” to the offices of Dr. Stein, who practiced oral surgery in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and Denver.

The state said patients who received IV medications, including sedation, at Dr. Stein’s offices “may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B and/or hepatitits C.”

State officials learned of the HIV risk the dentist may have exposed his patients to following a report of unsafe injection practices at his offices.

“Upon investigation, it was determined syringes and needles used to inject medications through patients’ IV lines were saved and used again to inject medications through other patients’ IV lines,” the agency said in a statement. “This practice has been known to transmit infections.”