2,400 people in Oregon potentially exposed to HIV, hepatitis through botched anesthesia

Around 2,400 people treated in Oregon hospitals may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis or other blood-borne infections due to an anesthesiologist's improper administration of drugs.

Providence, a Health care system that operates in several states, notified the public of the exposure risk in a statement Thursday (July 11). 

"We recently learned that Providence's comprehensive infection control practices may not have been followed by a physician during some procedures at Portland-area hospitals," the statement reads. These hospitals include Providence Willamette Falls Medical Center and Providence Portland Medical Center. Providence is notifying "approximately 2,200 patients" seen at the former facility and two seen at the latter medical center of this potential risk.

In addition, the same physician practiced at a Legacy Health hospital called Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center. "We are in the process of sending letters notifying 221 patients who may have been impacted," a Legacy spokesperson shared in a statement emailed to Live Science.

Related: Nearly 450 hospital patients in Massachusetts may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV

The physician was an anesthesiologist employed by Oregon Anesthesiology Group (OAG), which partners with hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers in western Oregon. 

"When we learned that the physician had violated infection control practices, we suspended him, informed our partners Legacy Health and Providence, and then began an investigation that resulted in the physician's termination," an OAG spokesperson told Live Science in an email. "Even though the risk of infection was low, new protocols and procedures have been put in place to prevent similar incidents in the future."