{"id":25831,"date":"2024-12-11T12:01:04","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T20:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losgatan.com\/?p=25831"},"modified":"2024-12-12T11:27:24","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T19:27:24","slug":"environmental-investigator-shares-details-of-illegal-medical-waste-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losgatan.com\/environmental-investigator-shares-details-of-illegal-medical-waste-probe\/","title":{"rendered":"Environmental prosecutor shares details of illegal medical waste probe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, as the country\u2019s attention was transfixed on the manhunt for the person who gunned down a health insurance executive\u2014which resulted in an outpouring of personal stories about patients being mistreated by the nation\u2019s medical care system\u2014the Santa Clara County DA\u2019s Office held a press conference to reveal environmental and privacy abuses by health care officials closer to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors said Dec. 5 that tons of contaminated trash had been improperly disposed of by County-run facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hazardous and medical items they\u2019d turned up included vials\u2014with antibiotics, anesthetics and fentanyl still inside\u2014blood, human tissue and electronics. They said they\u2019d also discovered hundreds of documents with unredacted patient information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"DA's
PRESS CONFERENCE – On Dec. 5, the Santa Clara County District Attorney\u2019s Office told reporters tons of contaminated trash had been improperly disposed of by County hospitals. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPart of our bringing this forward is to encourage quick compliance from the County, so as not to erode the community\u2019s trust,\u201d District Attorney Jeff Rosen told reporters, adding those concerned their private details may have been compromised can contact his office via stopmedicalwaste@dao.sccgov.org<\/a> to find out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe concern for what can happen when this kind of medical waste\u2014toxic materials, flammable materials\u2014are put in a regular landfill, I would just refer you to Chiquita Canyon in Southern California, in Santa Clarita, where a 30-acre landfill that was contaminated with medical and hazardous waste is essentially on fire underground. And hundreds of gallons of liquid that is contaminated has to be pumped out of that landfill every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"O'Connor
WHIRRING MACHINE – The trash compactor at O\u2019Connor Hospital, at 2105 Forest Ave. in San Jose, digests discarded material, last week.
(Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors targeted O\u2019Connor Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, in San Jose, and St. Louise Regional Hospital, in Gilroy, in a series of stings, and say they found violations each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the County\u2019s hospital system acknowledged the \u201cimmense efforts\u201d invested by prosecutors, and said it\u2019s taking the problem seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are committed to adopting industry best-practices to prevent future occurrences,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the County learned the details of the investigation three weeks earlier and immediately began addressing the situation\u2014including updating policies, creating an audit review process and designating people to make necessary changes quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe take environmental stewardship and the confidentiality of patient health information seriously and are working to strengthen our efforts in these areas while still delivering high-quality patient care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke with <\/em>Bud Porter, the supervisor of the DA\u2019s Environmental Protection Unit<\/em><\/strong>\u2014which is made up of two prosecutors, a supervisor and two investigators\u2014to learn more about the probe.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drew Penner:<\/strong> Why should the average person care about what you\u2019ve uncovered?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bud Porter:<\/strong> One, as it relates to the County\u2019s operations, the public pays for this. So, when the County does something well, we should hear about it. When the County\u2019s doing something wrong, we should know about it. And that\u2019s what this is about\u2014is to shine a light on what the County has done wrong, so they can fix it. As far as why should the public care\u2014about a business or a County department throwing away hazardous waste or medical waste illegally\u2014it\u2019s the law in the state of California. These laws have been on the books for decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the legislature, when it comes to hazardous waste, they increased the penalty in about 2018, from a maximum fine of $25,000 up to $70,000 per violation. Not just per disposal, but per violation: You didn\u2019t fill out your paperwork. You had it hauled by somebody who wasn\u2019t licensed. You didn\u2019t train your people. There\u2019s all sorts of underlying violations, besides the actual disposal violation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Medical
DISCARDED ITEMS – The DA’s office showed journalists posters of what they’d turned up in their stings.
(Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to medical waste: You didn\u2019t get a permit. You didn\u2019t plan. You didn\u2019t train people. You didn\u2019t segregate the waste into different containers. So, yeah, it\u2019s very complicated when it comes to following all the rules and regulations of medical waste and hazardous waste. But in the end it\u2019s kinda simple: Don\u2019t throw this stuff in the garbage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to patient information, people should care because it\u2019s a loss of privacy. It\u2019s a loss of trust in your care team. People want to feel like, when they go into a closed medical office, with their doctor or their nurse, that they can share information with their name and condition, or date of admission\u2014is not going to be just thrown in the garbage. When it comes to hazardous waste and medical waste going to the landfill, it\u2019s not oaky. Medical waste should be incinerated or sterilized before it goes anywhere\u2014before it goes to a landfill. Hazardous waste should go to a hazardous waste landfill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you throw hazardous waste and medical waste into the regular garbage and it goes to the regular landfill, you\u2019re exposing the waste hauler employees to that. Hazardous waste is stuff that\u2019s corrosive, toxic, flammable, kills fish\u2014that\u2019s why it\u2019s considered hazardous. So, that stuff in the landfill is gonna seep down through rainfall and anaerobic digestion and create leachate\u2014or liquid\u2014at the bottom of the landfill. And like Jeff mentioned about Chiquita Canyon, so much liquid\u2019s being generated that they can\u2019t even handle it all\u2014400,000 drums a day. That\u2019s containing benzene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drew:<\/strong> Do you get proof that shipments of medical and hazardous waste did end up in area landfills?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bud: <\/strong>We looked at eight waste inspections over the course of a year. But some of these hospitals had their compactors picked up three times a week. Some of them had their compactor picked up one time a week. So that\u2019s 52 times a year, or 156 times a year, right? You can do the math.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We only looked at eight. But based upon the magnitude and volume of what we found in each of these eight compactors, we have no reason to believe that the other hundreds of compactors over the course of the last year would look anything different. All eight had hundreds of violations of medical waste and hazardous waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drew:<\/strong> Were you able to figure out the motive behind the illegal medical dumping?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bud: <\/strong>Obviously the County can\u2019t operate without employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employees are the ones who are doing this. Why did a particular employee throw something in the garbage? Was it intentional? Was it negligent? What was the motive? You\u2019d have to ask the County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*This article has been updated to remove the name of the County health system spokesperson who provided the statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, as the country\u2019s attention was transfixed on the manhunt for the person who gunned down a health insurance executive\u2014which resulted in an outpouring of personal stories about patients being mistreated by the nation\u2019s medical care system\u2014the Santa Clara County DA\u2019s Office held a press conference to reveal environmental and privacy abuses by health […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1073,"featured_media":25836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[2027,2],"tags":[11957,11955,11956,11954,11953,9346,798,9307,2568,2571],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n