Kelowna Daily Courier

Medical workers should be vaccinated

KEITH To Your Good Health Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu

DEAR DR. ROACH: Why aren’t the hospitals mandating all personnel be COVID vaccinated? I am getting conflicting information. Don’t you think the first-line people treating the ill, whether it is to check a patient in to the hospital or a nurse, should have their vaccine in order to work in the hospital?

ANSWER: More and more hospitals and health systems require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for all employees who have contact with patients, and I absolutely agree with this.

Vaccines protect the individual, so I think everyone who can get the vaccine should. But health care workers have a special responsibility to protect their patients, and even if they don’t want the vaccine for themselves, they are ethically obligated to get the vaccine in order not to infect their patients.

My own hospital system requires the COVID-19 vaccine for employees who work on-site, just as they have required influenza vaccine for decades. People who are medically unable to get the vaccine may apply for a medical exemption. Our hospital allows people to apply for religious and personal beliefs exemptions, and reasonable accommodations must be offered when possible.

Protecting our patients, selves, colleagues, family and community is paramount. Part of being a health care professional is putting your patients' needs above your own.

DEAR DR. ROACH: I have been having colonoscopies since 1990. I was due for one last year, but postponed due to COVID-19. My previous doctor had retired, and I found another physician.

While on the bed, waiting to be moved to the procedure, the doctor came and sat down on one side of the bed. My other half was sitting on the other side. After the doctor said what he was going to say, he departed. My other half asked the nurse if the doctor was intoxicated. Why, she asked? She was told that he was slurring his words and had somewhat glassy eyes.

“Oh no, I’m sure he was not intoxicated,” she said.

Upon completion of his job, he informed both of us that he went in only a third of the way, afraid he would “poke my diverticula and injure me.”

What? My previous doctor, who had completed seven of these never had any difficulty getting past my diverticula.

After this doctor finished, he recommended that I have a CT scan of my abdomen and pelvis, and repeat colonoscopy based on findings on CT. I find this suspicious and suspect he was just trying to cover his liability. What is your opinion, please?

ANSWER: Your story contains two concerning points. The first is that your wife noticed the doctor slurring his words and not looking right

(“glassy eyes”).

In hindsight, it would have been wiser to refuse the procedure at this point, as you had reason not to trust the doctor. However, I recognize that is hard to do, especially after going through a preparation.

The second issue is that the doctor is recommending a CT scan. This is not a substitute for a colonoscopy, and unless there is something he saw on the colonoscopy that you haven't told me, doesn’t make a lot of sense medically.

Although diverticula does make a colonoscopy somewhat more risky, a careful examiner does not usually have difficulty passing the scope past the area of the colon affected by the diverticula. I’m puzzled by his response.

I think this encounter is worrisome enough that I would report it.

There are two sides to every interaction. Whether or not the doctor provided poor care, he at least communicated poorly and there is enough suspicion that an investigation, which might lead to an intervention, is appropriate. While I am sure you will never see this physician again, you might be helping future patients.

DEAR DR. ROACH: My son is in his mid-20s and has been a vegan for four years. After getting dangerously thin and weak, he was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. He is now so fearful of eating gluten that he will eat only from paper plates and uses disposable utensils. He will not eat anything that has been cooked in a pot or pan that may have been used to cook anything with gluten, even if it has been carefully washed.

Could becoming a vegan have anything to do with causing his celiac disease? Is it likely gluten will contaminate cooking/eating instruments after being washed in a dishwasher or by hand?

ANSWER: I am unaware of any reason that a vegan diet would increase risk of developing celiac disease.

Machine-washing plates will remove gluten. Hand-washing should be done with a separate sponge from those used to clean gluten-containing plates.

LIFE & ARTS

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2021-09-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

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