Ottawa health hotline flooded after clinic infection scare
CBC News
Posted: Oct 18, 2011 7:38 PM ET
Last Updated: Oct 18, 2011 7:35 PM ET
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More than 1,000 people have called a hotline set up to answer questions about an Ottawa clinic that might have exposed almost 7,000 patients to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV, the city confirmed Tuesday.
A spokesman with the City of Ottawa said the Ottawa Public Health hotline established Monday has received between 1,000 and 1,500 calls and is getting calls during the day at a rate of about 100 an hour.
The city's chief medical officer Dr. Isra Levy said Monday some infection prevention and cleaning protocols were "not always followed" at the clinic of Dr. Christiane Farazli, located at 1081 Carling Ave., Suite 606.
Ottawa Public Health said the concerns surround endoscopies, a procedure in which a medical instrument is used to examine the interior of a hollow organ or cavity of the body.
Following an inspection by The College of Physicians and Surgeons and a local investigation by OPH starting in June, registered letters were sent Monday to about 6,800 patients who underwent the procedure at the clinic between April 2002 and June 2011.
The hotline was established to handle questions from patients of the clinic during that time.
The risk of associated infection is believed to be less than one in one million for hepatitis B, less than one in 50 million for hepatitis C and less than one in three billion for HIV.
Patients getting blood tests
Many patients who underwent the procedures will be getting blood tests to ensure they have not been infected.
Stephanie Fortunato said she booked a blood test for Thursday.
Fortunato said Dr. Farazli gave her an endoscopy last year and described the naturally invasive procedure as "the worst experience of my life."
Fortunato said she complained to her family doctor about the experience, but she never launched a formal complaint.
But both Fortunato's parents had been going to Farazli's office for years, apparently without concern.
The College of Physicians is continuing its investigation of Dr. Farazli, a doctor who has been practicing for more than twenty years.
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