After a thorough investigation, we learned today that a licensed radiology technologist at Mayo Clinic in Florida was a possible source of transmission of Hepatitis C infection to three transplant patients. The situation involved transplant patients who underwent invasive procedures in Interventional Radiology while at Mayo Clinic. As of today, this employee is no longer working at Mayo Clinic.
While we believe this is an isolated incident, we are taking it extremely seriously. Mayo Clinic has taken the following actions:
- The technologist was removed from patient care as soon as we became aware he was possibly involved, eliminating further risk to patients.
- The technologist's employment was terminated today after he admitted taking drugs intended for patients.
- We have worked closely with the Florida Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control during our investigation. Other officials have been notified and will be following the event.
We are proactively contacting patients who may be affected by this former employee's regrettable actions. Mayo Clinic leadership is continuing a comprehensive review of the situation. The safety and proper care of our patients is our most important concern.
We want to assure patients that we will do everything possible to ensure patient safety.
Updated 2 p.m. EDT 8/25/2010:
Information for Patients about the Hepatitis C Infection Control Investigation (PDF)
Updated 5 p.m. EDT 8/25/2010:
Video from this afternoon's news conference regarding this issue