The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department is currently investigating the medical office of Dr. Allen Thomashefsky, where patients may have been exposed to blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis and HIV.
“It’s a single-practice medical office,” department spokesperson Susan Klein-Rothschild told the Sun. “We’re focusing on serving those patients first.”
Klein-Rothschild said the department is conducting a thorough investigation to find out if anyone acquired a blood-borne virus because of the office’s reportedly unsafe infection control practices. While investigating a case of hepatitis C that may have been caused by an injection at that office, the department became aware that there could be other possible exposures. The department sent letters out to the patients who could have been exposed and are making the health and safety of those patients the first priority, she said. Patients who have received injections at Dr. Thomashefsy’s office over the last seven years will be notified.
Patients could have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). At-risk patients will be tested for each of the viruses and provided with the test results as soon as possible.
“Each patient is receiving written guidance on where and how to obtain laboratory testing in a timely manner,” Public Health Officer Dr. Charity Dean said in a press release.
Dean ordered the medical clinic to close its doors, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health are working with the county on the case. An information phone line was established for patients who receive notification of their potential risk.
The viruses are not transmitted through casual contact, and the health department said there isn’t any risk to members of the public who didn’t have injection procedures at the medical office in question.
This article appears in Apr 9-16, 2015.