HIV test urged for 7000 Oklahoma dental patients - Houston Chronicle

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Health officials on Thursday urged an Oklahoma oral surgeon's patients to undergo hepatitis and HIV testing, saying unsanitary conditions behind his office's spiffy facade posed a threat to his 7,000 clients and made him a "menace to the public health."

State and county health inspectors went to Dr. W. Scott Harrington's practice after a patient with no known risk factors tested positive for both hepatitis C and the virus that causes AIDS. They found employees using dirty equipment, reusing drug vials and administering drugs without a license.

Harrington voluntarily gave up his license and closed his offices in Tulsa and suburban Owasso and is cooperating with investigators, said Kaitlin Snider, a spokeswoman for the Tulsa Health Department. He faces a hearing April 19 where his license could be permanently revoked.

"This is an unprecedented event," Susan Rogers, executive director of the state Board of Dentistry, said in an interview. "To my knowledge, this has never happened before as far as a public notification of a (hepatitis C) case involving a dental office."

The Oklahoma Board of Dentistry said the inspectors discovered multiple sterilization issues at Harrington's offices, including the use of a separate, rusty set of instruments for patients known to have infectious diseases.

"The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has determined that rusted instruments are porous and cannot be properly sterilized," the board said in a 17-count complaint against the dentist.

Officials are sending letters to 7,000 known patients of Harrington, but they noted that they do not have information for patients before 2007. The letters urge the patients to be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV — viruses typically spread through intravenous drug use or unprotected sex, not occupational settings.

"It's uncertain how long those practices have been in place," Snider said. "He's been practicing for 36 years."

Harrington could not be reached for comment Thursday. A message at his Tulsa office said it was closed and the doctor's answering service referred callers to the Tulsa Health Department. Phone numbers listed for Harrington were disconnected. A message left with Harrington's malpractice attorney in Tulsa, Jim Secrest II, was not immediately returned.

Harrington's Tulsa practice is in a tony part of town, on a row of some of the city's most upscale medical practices. The white-and-green stucco, two-story dental clinic has the doctor's name in fancy letters on the facade.

Inside, the Dentistry Board said, Harrington ran a clinic that didn't ensure items were sterile. Dental assistants needing an extra dose of an anesthetic would re-insert needles into drug vials, drug vials were used on multiple patients and the office had no written infection-protection procedure.

Joyce Baylor said she had a tooth pulled at Harrington's Tulsa office a year and a half ago.

"The office looked clean," she said in a telephone interview.

Baylor, 69, said she plans to get tested next week.

"I'm sure he's not suffering financially that he can't afford instruments," Baylor said.

Harrington told officials he left questions about sterilization and drug procedures to his employees.

"They take care of that, I don't," the board quoted him as saying.

The doctor is also accused of letting his assistants perform tasks only a licensed dentist should have done. Also, the complaint says that the doctor's staff could not produce permits for the assistants when asked for them.

Rogers said that as an oral surgeon, Harrington routinely does invasive procedures that involve "pulling teeth, open wounds, open blood vessels." The Dentistry Board complaint said Harrington and his staff told investigators that a "high population of known infectious disease carrier patients" received dental care from him.

According to the complaint, a device used to sterilize instruments wasn't being properly used.

Also, a test is supposed to be performed monthly and sent to a lab to determine that the equipment is successfully sterilizing instruments, but "no such test had ever been performed in the 6 years one dental assistant had been working at the office," the complaint said.

The doctor also apparently used outdated drugs, as one vial found this year had an expiration date of 1993, and didn't properly keep track of drugs, the complaint said. It noted that a drug cabinet was unlocked and unattended during the day and that dental assistants administered IV sedation for procedures.

It also said that although U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration records show Harrington had not received morphine from a distributor since 2009, the drug logs kept by his assistants said morphine had been used on patients intermittently throughout 2012.

Officials said patients will be offered free medical testing at the Tulsa Health Department's North Regional Health and Wellness Center.

Most people who become infected by hepatitis C get it by sharing needles or other equipment to inject drugs, according to the CDC's website. The infection can last a lifetime and lead to scarring of the liver or liver cancer.

Most people who get hepatitis B have it for a short time, though it can cause a long-term infection that can damage the liver. It can be transmitted through unprotected sex and sharing needles.

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Zuma reassures S Africa over Mandela

28 March 2013 Last updated at 15:19 ET

South African President Jacob Zuma: "We want Madiba (Mr Mandela) to be with us for a long time"

President Jacob Zuma has sought to reassure South Africans as Nelson Mandela is being treated for the recurrence of a lung infection.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Zuma said that people "must not panic" and that the former president was doing "very well" so far.

The 94-year-old was admitted to hospital just before midnight.

He spent 18 days in hospital in December undergoing treatment for a lung infection and gallstones.

In a statement released earlier, Mr Zuma's office said the ex-leader was "responding positively" to treatment.

The presidency has not identified the hospital where Mr Mandela is being treated.

Speaking to the BBC's Lerato Mbele, Mr Zuma told the BBC people should "slow down the anxiety".

"Of course I have been saying to people, you should bear in mind Madiba is no longer that young and if he goes for check-ups every now and again, I don't think people must be alarmed about it. I would like to really say the country must not panic," Mr Zuma said.

Continue reading the main story

Nelson Mandela: Key dates

• 1918 Born in the Eastern Cape
• 1943 Joins African National Congress
• 1956 Charged with high treason, but charges dropped
• 1962 Arrested, convicted of sabotage, sentenced to five years in prison
• 1964 Charged again, sentenced to life
• 1990 Freed from prison
• 1993 Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1994 Elected first black president
• 1999 Steps down as leader
• 2004 Retires from public life
• 2005 Announces his son has died of an HIV/Aids-related illness

• BBC History: Mandela's defiant freedom speech

The former president is often fondly referred to by his clan name, Madiba.

When asked if people should prepare for the inevitable, Mr Zuma said: "In Zulu, when someone passes away who is very old, people say he or she has gone home. I think those are some of the things we should be thinking about."

But he stressed that Mr Mandela had been able to handle the situation "very well" so far.

"Very few outstanding personalities in the world live to his level," he said.

Mr Zuma said he was in touch with doctors about visiting Mr Mandela in hospital as soon as possible.

Mr Mandela is regarded by many South Africans as the father of the nation for leading the struggle against apartheid.

He served as South Africa's first black president from 1994 to 1999.

It is the fourth time, Mr Mandela has been admitted to hospital in just over two years.

He first contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained on the windswept Robben Island where he served 18 of the 27 years he was imprisoned for sabotage.

Nelson Mandela's health has been a cause of concern for some time

His lungs are said to have been damaged when he worked in a prison quarry.

Despite his long imprisonment, Mr Mandela forgave his former enemies and as president urged South Africans of all races to work together and seek reconciliation.

In 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The treatment Mr Mandela received in December 2012 was his longest spell in hospital since leaving prison in 1990.

Earlier this month he spent a night in hospital following a check-up.

Mr Mandela retired from public life in 2004 and has been rarely seen in public since.

His main home is in Qunu, a small rural village in Eastern Cape province, where he says he spent the happiest days of his childhood.

However, doctors said in December he should remain at his home in the Johannesburg neighbourhood of Houghton to be close to medical facilities.

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Hospital stops child heart surgery

28 March 2013 Last updated at 16:57 ET

There has been a battle to keep children's heart surgery in Leeds

Children's congenital heart surgery has been suspended at a Leeds NHS Trust while an independent review is carried out.

The chief executive of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said outside experts would be drafted in to review "all aspects" of care.

The decision was taken following a meeting with the Care Quality Commission on Thursday.

Affected families are being contacted directly by the Trust.

In a statement, chief executive Maggie Boyle, said: "We have taken the decision to temporarily pause children's congenital cardiac surgery and associated interventions while this review is conducted, a process we would aim to complete in around three weeks.

"We apologise to parents and families who will be affected during this time, and can assure them we always put the safety of our patients first.

"It is really important to us that the review is done as speedily and comprehensively as possible which, of course, we hope will show the services in Leeds to be safe.

"We are confident in the quality of the care provided by our staff and hope they will bear with us during this difficult time."

A decision to stop children's heart surgery at the Leeds hospital was quashed by a High Court judge on Wednesday.

Previously, an NHS review said surgery should stop at hospitals in Leeds, Leicester and London to focus care at fewer, larger sites.

But earlier this month, the judge ruled the consultation process which led to the decision was unfair and legally flawed.

The NHS review team said they would study the implications of the ruling, and consider grounds for appeal.

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Syracuse Smothers No. 1 Seed Indiana - New York Times

Rob Carr/Getty Images

Indiana's Christian Watford fighting for the loose ball against Brandon Triche, from left, Baye Keita and Michael Carter-Williams.

WASHINGTON — Indiana could not have looked more lost. The Hoosiers missed layups, dribbled into defenders and threw passes that sailed into the Syracuse bench, as if a gust of wind had suddenly swept through the Verizon Center. And that was just the first few possessions.

Indiana had spent four days preparing for Syracuse’s celebrated 2-3 zone defense heading into Thursday’s East Region semifinal. The Hoosiers watched film, studied sets and moved the ball at practice with authority.

Up close and personal, they found the Orange to be longer, more athletic and more exasperating than they could have imagined. The result was clear, as Syracuse leaned on its usual brand of swarming defense to topple Indiana, 61-50.

Michael Carter-Williams, a sophomore guard, led fourth-seeded Syracuse with 24 points and 5 rebounds, and the senior guard Brandon Triche finished with 14 points.

Indiana, the top seed, shot 34 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. It was not the first time Syracuse’s length has given an opponent problems, but the bright stage of tournament has a way of magnifying each hurried shot and every errant pass.

Syracuse, which will face No. 3 seed Marquette on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four, has rebounded nicely from a late-season swoon. The Verizon Center itself was the site of one such debacle, a 61-39 loss to Georgetown on March 9 during which Syracuse scored its fewest points since 1962. When Coach Jim Boeheim was asked about that game on Wednesday, he pretended not to remember it.

His team has a different air about it now, even if Thursday’s game did not feature the most artistic basketball. Syracuse’s Baye Moussa Keita wore a wrap on his left hand after falling flat on his face in the first half. During one particularly comedic sequence of the second half, these two proud programs combined for five straight turnovers without attempting a shot.

Indiana Coach Tom Crean tried his best to unearth solutions, starting the junior forward Will Sheehey in place of his freshman point guard, Yogi Ferrell, to start the second half. Sheehey seemed to energize the Hoosiers, his pass to Victor Oladipo for a layup slicing Syracuse’s lead to 34-27.

But even with Oladipo (team-high 16 points), the Big Ten Conference’s defensive player of the year, shadowing him for much of the night, Carter-Williams still found his spots. He scored back-to-back baskets — the first on a layup, the second on a deep 3-pointer — to give Syracuse a 14-point cushion.

It was just the fifth meeting between these tradition-laden programs — and their first in the tournament since their most well-known clash, in 1987 for the national championship. The Hoosiers won that game on Keith Smart’s last-second jumper, a shot that he delivered over the outstretched left arm of Syracuse’s Howard Triche.

On Wednesday, Boeheim described Triche as “one of the steadiest players we’ve ever had. It’s always difficult. There is nothing you can say after those games.” Boeheim used the present tense. So many of these games, particularly the losses, linger for so long.

On Thursday, Triche’s nephew had an opportunity to help Syracuse (and his family) add some sort of postscript to that loss, even if it came 26 years later. Brandon Triche said people on campus still mistakenly refer to him as “Howard.” It does not bother him, he said, though it does strike him as odd. “I thought they would know my name after being here four years,” he said before Thursday’s game.

Triche had an immediate impact against Indiana, scoring his team’s first four points as Syracuse opened up an 11-3 lead. By the time Syracuse’s James Sutherland drilled a deep 3-pointer, Crean was motioning for a 30-second timeout. The Hoosiers were flummoxed. There were possessions when Cody Zeller, the team’s star forward, found himself trapped by a pair of defenders 18 feet from the basket.

In the first 10 minutes, Indiana shot 1 of 6 from the field and committed eight turnovers. Syracuse was on its way to leading by 18 points before the Hoosiers cut the advantage to 34-22 at halftime. Carter-Williams had 12 points and 3 steals in the first half.

The Hoosiers figured to have the type of offense that would give Syracuse problems. Most gaps in the zone typically come along the perimeter, and Indiana had been one of the country’s most proficient 3-point shooting teams, at 40.8 percent for the season. On Thursday, the Hoosiers were 3 of 15 from 3-point range.

Syracuse has come a long way since its woes in late February and early March. Amid a stretch in which the team lost four of six games, Boeheim grew so disenchanted with his players that he talked about how wonderful it would be if he could just drop everything and go golfing.

Yet the Orange were resilient, reaching the Big East Conference tournament final before defeating Montana and California in the tournament’s opening rounds. As always, Syracuse relied on defense in reaching the Round of 16 — one of Boeheim’s philosophical staples.

On Thursday, it worked once more, and it looked as terrifying as ever.

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Suspect offers to plead guilty - Detroit Free Press

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Boris Berezovsky inquest due to open

27 March 2013 Last updated at 22:39 ET

Boris Berezovsky had lived in Britain since 2000

An inquest into the death of exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky is due to open later.

Mr Berezovsky, 67, was found dead on Saturday on a bathroom floor at his home in Ascot, Berkshire.

A post-mortem examination found his death was consistent with hanging, but further tests are being carried out and are likely to take several weeks.

The inquest comes after the family of his second wife paid tribute to him, describing him as "extraordinary".

His daughter Anastasia, 19, said: "My father was not the typical parent, nothing about him was ordinary... he has taught me many things about this world.

"He has taught me to never stop fighting for what one believes in no matter what the costs may be."

Anastasia and her brother Artem are Mr Berezovsky's children with his second wife Galina Besharova.

She added: "There aren't enough words in any language that can somehow express everything that he was and everything he will continue to be. The only word that comes close is extraordinary."

'No struggle'

Mr Berezovsky's body was reportedly found by an employee, who called an ambulance at 15:18 GMT on Saturday. He had not been seen since around 22:30 GMT the previous evening.

Police have said the post-mortem examination found nothing to indicate a violent struggle, but investigations at the property would continue for several days.

They had earlier said there was no evidence so far that a "third party" was involved.

It will be several weeks before the results of further tests, including toxicology and histology examinations, are known.

BBC world affairs correspondent Richard Galpin says some friends of Mr Berezovsky had said he was depressed after the failure of his legal battle in London with fellow Russian oligarch and Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich.

But others have insisted he was not a man who would have taken his own life, our correspondent adds.

Police have said they are speaking to the Russian's close friends and family to build up a picture of his state of mind in the last days of his life.

Assassination attempts

The inquest is expected to be adjourned to allow time for a full investigation before witnesses are called to give evidence and a conclusion is reached.

Mr Berezovsky, an outspoken critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, amassed a fortune in the 1990s following the privatisation of state assets after the collapse of Soviet communism.

He survived numerous assassination attempts, including a bomb that decapitated his chauffeur.

Mr Berezovsky had been living in the UK since 2000.

He was granted political asylum in 2003 on the grounds that his life would be in danger in Russia.

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Oil firms invest £330m in North Sea

27 March 2013 Last updated at 20:31 ET

BP and its partners could drill up to 12 wells depending on the initial results of the appraisal

A consortium of oil companies is to invest more than $500m (£330m) in an appraisal drilling programme which could lead to further development of a giant North Sea field.

The BP-led consortium said drilling had already started on the first of five wells planned over the next two years at Clair, west of Shetland.

Up to 12 wells could be drilled, depending on initial results.

The news came as the UK government unveiled a new oil and gas strategy.

BP's partners in the appraisal drilling programme are Shell, ConocoPhillips and Chevron.

It is the latest in a series of announcements, aimed at transforming the Atlantic's role as an oil-producing region.

Clair is already known as a "monster" field, holding eight billion barrels of oil.

However, it has been technically difficult to bring ashore.

Although the field was discovered more than 35 years ago, production did not start until 2005.

Last year, BP announced a further huge expansion.

The company and its partners hope the appraisal programme will lead to a third phase, taking production well beyond 2050.

New oil would continue to be pumped by pipeline to Shetland.

BP North Sea regional president Trevor Garlick said: "This is a major milestone and a further big commitment to the west of Shetland by BP and its co-venturers.

"If successful, the appraisal programme could pave the way for a third phase of development at Clair - this is now a real possibility."

Analysts believe that Clair - along with other developments in the area - could lead to the Atlantic overtaking the North Sea as the UK's biggest oil-producing region within 20 years.

Meanwhile, the new oil and gas strategy aimed at securing thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of investment is to be unveiled by UK Business Secretary Vince Cable in Aberdeen, which is known as the oil capital of Europe.

He will address business leaders alongside Scottish Secretary Michael Moore and UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey.

The three secretaries of state will describe plans for "tax certainty", supply chain support and skills development.

Skills shortage

The government has also announced a £7m commitment to help establish the Neptune offshore technology centre of excellence in Newcastle.

Mr Cable, who will open a facility at offshore specialists Expro in Aberdeen, said: "I want us to consider what barriers are stopping British companies bidding for and winning work in the North Sea. This is an expanding industry. We can either help create more jobs and opportunities across the UK if we get this right, or see work going overseas if not."

The oil and gas industry employs about 400,000 people and provides nearly half the UK's energy needs, the government said.

The strategy states that government will work with the industry to tackle a looming skills shortage, partly by re-training military leavers to fill some of the 15,000 new jobs expected to be created in the oil and gas sector over the next five years.

It also says that perceptions of the industry are "out-dated and inaccurate", and the government will back a campaign to highlight its significance.

It pledges to encourage more technological advancement through research and development, and also to improve the ability of small and medium-sized businesses to access finance.

Malcolm Webb, chairman of industry body Oil and Gas UK, said: "The strategy fosters strong and meaningful collaboration between the government and industry and will help to focus efforts on addressing particular areas such as skills, technology and exports.

"It will further strengthen the oilfield services sector across the country, boost investor confidence, safeguard jobs and help to maximise recovery of Britain's oil and gas reserves."

The future of the oil industry is key in the debate about Scottish independence.

The Scottish National Party, which forms the Scottish government, argues that the country can look forward to an oil boom in the early years of independence, assuming a Yes vote in September 2014.

Opponents warn against over-reliance on a volatile resource, prone to fluctuations in revenue.

Commenting on the publication of the strategy, Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: "I am delighted that the UK government are following the Scottish government's lead in recognising the strength and importance of the oil and gas industry by launching their own oil and gas strategy.

"I am pleased that the UK government highlight the positive future of the industry for years to come, the extent of reserves, and the benefit to the balance of payments, and production taxes.

"I welcome their view that there will be a long term future for the oil and gas industry well beyond 2055."

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