UK U-turn on single use for vCJD (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease)-risk surgery
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The UK Department of Health is to reintroduce reusable surgical instruments for tonsil and adenoid surgery, thus overturning its decision of almost a year ago to introduce single-use devices to eliminate the risk of patient-to-patient transmission of vCJD in these procedures. The decision has been prompted by the high number of adverse events attributed to the use of single-use instruments in the past year. It is based on the "balance of risks" to patients, says the DoH, on the advice of the British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists.