Fortenberry Calls for Hearing on Patient Safety

Lincoln, NE - Congressman Jeff Fortenberry has called for a congressional hearing to address basic safety violations and medical errors at outpatient health care clinics.

“Americans deserve to be confident of their safety and wellbeing when seeking medical care," Fortenberry said.  "It is tragic that basic safety violations have resulted in infectious disease outbreaks across the country, including Nebraska."

In 2002, 99 patients were infected with Hepatitis C while undergoing cancer treatment at a Fremont, Nebraska, ambulatory health care facility.  Recent reports of potential blood-borne disease exposure due to unsafe practices in outpatient settings, including incidents in Nevada, New York, and Michigan, indicate that problems continue.

"My hope is that a congressional hearing would explore the causes of these outbreaks and determine whether existing procedural regulations are lax or new regulations are potentially necessary," Fortenberry said.

Fortenberry recently sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health care matters, requesting that a hearing involve patients affected by outbreaks in Nebraska and other states, federal agencies of interest including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as industry leaders able to discuss technologies designed to reduce medical errors.

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