Health Highlights: Feb. 14, 2009

Feb. 15 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Bad Colonoscopy Equipment May Have Exposed Thousands of Veterans to Infection

A bad connection between a hose and a valve on an instrument used for colonoscopies at a Tennessee Veteran's Administration clinic may have exposed thousands of veterans to infection.

According to the Associated Press, the problem was just recently discovered at the Alvin C. York VA clinic in Murfreesboro, Tenn., but the bad connection, which could have exposed almost 6,400 colonoscopy patients to infectious bodily fluids may have been in operation for at least five years.

The improper valve connection wasn't discovered until late in 2008, so the VA had to send letters to 6,378 patients who had colonoscopies between April 23, 2003 and Dec. 1, 2008.

While saying there had been no reports of infections or illness directly related to the defective equipment, a VA spokesman told the wire service that every step was being taken to screen any veterans who might have been exposed to infection.

Additionally, the A.P. reported, another 1,800 patients may have been exposed to infection in Augusta, Ga., between January and November 2008 because of improper disinfecting methods on an ear, nose and throat instrument.

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Supreme Court Says Ginsburg's Cancer Has Not Spread

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's cancer has not spread beyond her pancreas, and the 75-year-old justice returned to her Washington, D.C., home on Friday after being released from New York City's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the court said.

Ginsburg's spleen and a portion of her pancreas were removed on Feb. 5 at the center after doctors had spotted a 1-centimeter growth during a CT scan in late January that later was found to be benign. A second, smaller tumor found by her surgeon, Dr. Murray Brennan, during the operation was malignant, however, the court said. Tests on Ginsburg's lymph nodes revealed no cancer, and doctors found no spread of it elsewhere, the Associated Press reported.