Catalan health body owns up to death due to reused drug

Hospital staff have caused one death, multiple infections and the spread to various patients of the hepatitis C virus by reusing an anesthetic designed for single use, according to Catalan health authorities. The patients affected, all during the last three years, were undergoing a gastric endoscopy, an operation that requires only small amounts of anesthetic. In each case, the leftover liquid propofol was reused for other procedures- against the guidelines of both the manufacturer and hospitals concerned.

The negligence came to light in a circular sent to all clinics in the region, which warned against this bad practice and its consequences. The Catalan authorities have not yet revealed how many people were infected by hepatitis C or the number of hospitals guilty of reusing the vials.

The region's department of health has noted that the likelihood of infection was boosted by the fact that the propofol packaging had "an emulsion that contains lipids without anti-microbe preservatives." Once contaminated by bacteria, "this allows micro-organisms to grow quickly."

Contaminated multiple-dose liquid drugs have caused repeated outbreaks of hepatitis C in Spanish hospitals in recent years. Single-use vials were introduced to counteract this problem. Health authorities have lodged a request with Spain's Medicines Agency for smaller dose vials, specifically for endoscopies.