450 Patients at Massachusetts Hospital Possibly Exposed to Hepatitis and HIV

Hundreds of people were possibly exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and the virus that can cause AIDs, officials say.

A microscopic view of the HIV virus on a lymphocyte, as seen in a file photo. AFP/Getty Images

Nearly 450 patients at a hospital in Massachusetts might have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV due to poor administration of IV medications, said the hospital in a statement.

Salem Hospital told news outlets this week that patients undergoing an endoscopy—including colonoscopies, laparoscopies, and bronchoscopies—at the hospital may have been exposed to the pathogens over the past several years. The patients, it added, were exposed when IV medications were given “in a manner not consistent with our best practice.”