The Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA) is currently working with the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority to identify juveniles who were patients of W. Scott Harrington, DMD, while at the L.E. Rader facility and Juvenile Services group homes.
Records date back to 1995 when the agency came into existence. Any juvenile covered by Medicaid in need of medical care would have been seen by providers -- including Dr. Harrington -- contracted with the Oklahoma Healthcare Authority.
Under Oklahoma law, any files or information regarding OJA youth are confidential and not for public review. However, OJA is actively working with the health department to identify the juveniles that were patients of Dr. Harrington and notify them by letter to contact the Oklahoma Health Department in order to be tested for HIV and hepatitis.
The Oklahoma Board of Dentistry launched an investigation of Dr. Harrington on March 15 after being notified that health officials were looking into a complaint about potential hepatitis C contamination at his practice. On March 28, public health officials began notifying 7,000 of Dr. Harrington's patients that they may have been exposed to blood-borne viruses at his Tulsa and Owasso offices and should be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.
In related news, three more former patients of Dr. Harrington have filed lawsuits against the doctor, including one alleging that he caused the patient to contract hepatitis C, according to a story in Tulsa World.
