Brain Disease Has Carmichael Hospital On Alert
Nursing Spokeswoman Says It Could Be Variant Of 'Mad Cow' Disease
POSTED: 9:30 p.m. PDT October 25, 2001
UPDATED: 11:02 a.m. PDT October 26, 2001
CARMICHAEL, Calif. -- Elective surgeries started up again Friday at Mercy San Juan Hospital in Carmichael after a patient who tested positive for a debilitating brain disease had them on hold.
A patient at the hospital has been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after a brain operation.
"On Monday evening, a patient had a brain biopsy done. The reason was to rule out brain cancer," spokesman Bryan Gardner said.
But the biopsy found that the patient had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD, which is a rare, fatal brain disorder that causes dementia and associated neuromuscular disturbances.
Studies show that there is a relationship between a variant of CJD and "mad cow" disease. But hospital officials said that their disease was not the same kind.
However, hospital officials said that they shut down all elective surgery, contacted the Center for Disease Control and cleaned up any potential contaminants. Elective surgeries continued on Friday.
"If there were any contaminated surgical instruments that were used, we eliminated that possibility by taking the surgical instruments out of circulation," Gardner said.
But the California Nursing Association said that the hospital did not handle the cleanup properly, and that the hospital may be covering up the true identity of the disease.
"The pathology report came back today, confirmed that it was a variant of the "mad cow" disease. I think management was trying to keep this, contain this, and keep it from the public, basically. And make sure that this was kept in house," California Nursing Association spokeswoman Teresa Twohey said.
The hospital said that everything has been cleaned up and no one is in danger.
There appear to be three general categories for classifying the means through which CJD may be acquired.
First, the disease can occur sporadically. Second, the disease can be inherited. And third, the disease can be transmitted through infection.
The patient that went in for the surgery is still alive, but at this time there is still no cure for CJD.
A patient at the hospital has been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after a brain operation.
"On Monday evening, a patient had a brain biopsy done. The reason was to rule out brain cancer," spokesman Bryan Gardner said.
But the biopsy found that the patient had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD, which is a rare, fatal brain disorder that causes dementia and associated neuromuscular disturbances.
Studies show that there is a relationship between a variant of CJD and "mad cow" disease. But hospital officials said that their disease was not the same kind.
However, hospital officials said that they shut down all elective surgery, contacted the Center for Disease Control and cleaned up any potential contaminants. Elective surgeries continued on Friday.
"If there were any contaminated surgical instruments that were used, we eliminated that possibility by taking the surgical instruments out of circulation," Gardner said.
But the California Nursing Association said that the hospital did not handle the cleanup properly, and that the hospital may be covering up the true identity of the disease.
"The pathology report came back today, confirmed that it was a variant of the "mad cow" disease. I think management was trying to keep this, contain this, and keep it from the public, basically. And make sure that this was kept in house," California Nursing Association spokeswoman Teresa Twohey said.
The hospital said that everything has been cleaned up and no one is in danger.
There appear to be three general categories for classifying the means through which CJD may be acquired.
First, the disease can occur sporadically. Second, the disease can be inherited. And third, the disease can be transmitted through infection.
The patient that went in for the surgery is still alive, but at this time there is still no cure for CJD.
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