
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 11, 1994                   TAG: 9405110123
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LAURA WILLIAMSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DOCTOR SAYS PATIENT LIED

A Roanoke doctor who recently failed to report a case of hepatitis A didn't immediately alert the health department because his patient lied about her two food-service jobs and because he never received her lab results, the head of the Roanoke County-Salem Health Department says.

Medical Director Dr. Molly Rutledge said a woman who worked last month at the Cave Spring Corner Burger King and Cave Spring Corner Kroger Deli told her doctor that she was unemployed and had not recently worked with food. The woman, who was diagnosed April 22 with hepatitis A, worked at Burger King from April 8 through April 19 and at Kroger from April 18 through April 30.

Rutledge would not release the names of the patient or the doctor.

Hepatitis A is an extremely infectious but non-fatal viral illness that can be spread through contaminated food. Doctors are required by law to report cases directly to the local health department.

Rutledge said she learned of the woman's diagnosis when the lab that processed the blood tests mailed the results to the health department - several days after the woman had returned to work at Kroger. Labs also are required to report hepatitis cases.

Rutledge said the doctor, who saw the woman at a local emergency room, said he was waiting for the test results before contacting the health department. Rutledge would not identify the hospital where the woman was seen.

The doctor never reported the results, she said, because he never got them.

"He never got the lab report," she said. "That's why we've got to look into the system."

Calling the doctor's response under the circumstances "perfectly reasonable," Rutledge said the health department would continue to investigate how and why communication broke down.

Health department employees continued Tuesday to inoculate people who had eaten at the Kroger deli during the time the woman worked there. Inoculations were not offered to Burger King customers, because the woman left her job there more than two weeks ago. Inoculations are effective only within two weeks of exposure.

The health department provided 280 people with free inoculations Monday and Tuesday, nurse Barbara Burnett said. No more inoculations will be given.

People who might have been exposed at Kroger or Burger King could become ill up to 50 days from the date of exposure, Burnett said, although most people become ill within the first week. She advised people to continue to watch for symptoms - which include nausea, loss of appetite, diarrhea, fatigue and jaundice - and to see a doctor if they become sick.

Rutledge said no further cases of hepatitis have been reported.

But the incident isn't over yet. As a result of negative publicity from the case, Burger King saw a 25 percent drop in business and asked the health department for help.

To show customers that there is no danger in eating at the fast-food restaurant, Rutledge and nine members of her management team will eat lunch there Thursday.

It's on the house.

by CNB