{"id":1487,"date":"2013-04-01T13:53:41","date_gmt":"2013-04-01T18:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapleslawokc.com\/blog\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2025-10-02T16:29:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:29:09","slug":"tulsa-dentist-exposed-thousands-patients-hiv-hepatitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapleslawokc.com\/blog\/medical-malpractice\/tulsa-dentist-exposed-thousands-patients-hiv-hepatitis\/","title":{"rendered":"Tulsa Dentist May Have Exposed Thousands of Patients to HIV and Hepatitis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Tulsa oral surgeon is suspected of exposing thousands of his patients to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and even HIV because of his poor sterilization practices. According to an <em>ABC News<\/em> report, the doctor is under investigation by the state dental board, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, and the state bureau of narcotics because one of his patients tested positive for Hepatitis C and HIV. Officials say the victim had no other known risk factors besides receiving dental treatment from Harrington.<\/p>\n<p>The Oklahoma Board of Dentistry conducted a surprise inspection of the doctor\u2019s Tulsa practice on March 18. During their visit, they allegedly uncovered a number of problems, including:<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>rusty instruments were regularly used on patients;<\/li>\n<li>bleach was used on wounds until they turned white;<\/li>\n<li>a number of sanitation issues;<\/li>\n<li>drug cabinets were unlocked and unsupervised;<\/li>\n<li>unlicensed dental assistants were allowed to administer medication;<\/li>\n<li>expired drugs including one drug vial that expired in 1993;<\/li>\n<li>re-used needles;<\/li>\n<li>patients were given morphine in 2012, but no morphine has been ordered since 2009;<\/li>\n<li>instruments used for infected patients were dipped in bleach but had red-brown rust spots, which made them porous.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Tulsa Health Department will send out letters by mail to potentially infected patients. Anyone who receives the letter will have access to free testing. The <a href=\"https:\/\/tulsa-health.org\/\" target=\"blank\">Tulsa Health Department<\/a> has also set up a hotline for concerned patients at (918) 595-4500.<\/p>\n<p>It is important to remember, however, that transmission of HIV through dental work is rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 8,000 Coloradans were notified of a similar HIV scare in 2012 and not a single case was identified. It is not clear, yet, if more victims will have HIV in this case or if the dentist will face criminal charges.<\/p>\n<p>If you or a loved one is a potential victim involved in this case, please contact an experienced Oklahoma personal injury attorney at the Maples Law Firm. We can provide you with a free consultation regarding your legal rights and options. Please contact us at (405) 705-5050 to find out how we can help you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Tulsa oral surgeon is suspected of exposing thousands of his patients to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and even HIV because of his poor sterilization practices. According to an ABC&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[559,935,1201,1206],"class_list":["post-1487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medical-malpractice","tag-ok-dentist-hiv-risks","tag-oklahoma-medical-malpractice-attorney","tag-tulsa-dental-malpractice","tag-tulsa-hepatitis-exposure"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tulsa Dentist May Have Exposed Thousands of Patients to HIV and Hepatitis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Tulsa oral surgeon is suspected of exposing thousands of his patients to Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and even HIV because of his poor sterilization\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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