2 Ohio VA dental patients test positive for hepatitis B

Two patients who were treated at the dental clinic at the Dayton Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Ohio have confirmed cases of hepatitis B, the VA announced.

The two patients were treated by Dwight Pemberton, DDS, who is at the center of a scandal over inadequate infection control practices at the dental clinic. But it is still uncertain if they contracted the disease at the dental clinic, said VA spokesman Todd Sledge.

"They received some level of service from the dentist, but there's no association that it's [hepatitis B] directly related to the dentist," he told DrBicuspid.com.

Three patients who were also treated by Dr. Pemberton have tested positive for hepatitis C, but Sledge said the results are being verified to ensure they are not false positives, as were several prior patients who initially tested positive.

"We might never know the true origin of how these folks contracted hepatitis, but the process is continuing to be looked at," Sledge said.

Nine patients initially tested positive for the disease, but several were subsequently identified as false positives after further epidemiology blood testing was done, Sledge said.

The clinic has been under investigation after clinic employees said Dr. Pemberton performed invasive dental procedures on patients but failed to change latex gloves and properly sterilize dental instruments between patients over an 18-year period (January 1992 through July 2010).

The VA has notified 535 veterans that they may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV by Dr. Pemberton. About 90% of them have been tested, Sledge said.

Guy Richardson, who was the director of the medical center during the infection scandal, has been reassigned to the VA Health Care System of Ohio Network.

Dr. Pemberton, who had been earning more than $165,000 a year, retired in February at age 81 after working for the VA for 35 years.