Patients of Dr. W. Scott Harrington, D.D.S. have been urged to seek medical screenings after one of his patients tested positive for both Hepatitis B and HIV.
According to NBC News this morning, health officials will be urging those patients to be tested for the infections. The infected patient had no risk factors and officials determined that the dental procedure the patient had coincided with the likely period of contraction.
The officials discovered unsafe practices in the dental office including use of unsanitary instruments, use of rusty instruments, procedures performed by unlicensed individuals, as well as use of expired medicines.
The Center for Disease Control estimates that nearly 7,000 people might have been exposed to the infections based on documentation from 2007 until now. However, more patients may be at risk or were exposed. Harrington has since been declared a “menace to public health” by the Oklahoma State Dentistry Board.
—Alexis Holliday
