Hospital accidentally exposes patient to HIV, family says

An 85-year-old New Hampshire man may have accidentally been exposed to HIV after a hospital mistakenly injected him with an insulin pen previously used on an HIV-positive patient.

Eugene Devoyd, 85, was at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center due to a medical emergency relating to his diabetes, among other ailments, when he was inadvertently injected with an insulin pen previously used on a patient with HIV, according to medical records from the hospital, which were shared with New Hampshire ABC-affiliate WMUR.

The nurse removed the needle from the pen, and used a new needle to inject Devoyd, according to the documents. The doctor informed the family of the mistake, and put Devoyd on antiviral medication later that day in an attempt to prevent an HIV infection.

"The same insulin pen that was used on an HIV-positive patient was used to inject Eugene, but with a different needle," the document says.

Devoyd's son, Chris Devoyd, told WMUR that he unintentionally pricked himself with a needle after checking his father's blood sugar. He is now concerned for his own well-being, as well as his father's.

"I haven't heard anything from the hospital since he got out," Chris Devoyd told WMUR. "I thought maybe they would say sorry or maybe call and see how he was doing, but nothing. Not one thing."

In a statement released Tuesday night, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center wrote that it cannot discuss individual treatment administered at the hospital, citing federal and state confidentiality laws. The statement did, however, say the facility is committed to preventing errors.

"Southern New Hampshire Medical Center has a long-standing record of delivering high quality, safe patient care, as demonstrated by our publicly reported measures," the statement reads. "What sets apart high-performing organizations is our commitment to reporting errors, analyzing the cause of the errors, and then implementing corrective action to prevent those errors from recurring. We embrace this philosophy, thereby aspiring to continuously improving our quality and safety outcomes."

Chris Devoyd said he and his father have been through an initial round of testing and both have come back negative for HIV so far.