Oklahoma Man Tested For HIV, Hepatitis C Following Dental Procedure

A surgery in Tahlequah ended in a medical scare for one Grove man.  

The man said the Cherokee Nation told him he needed to get tested for HIV and Hepatitis C after a dental procedure.
     
John Wagnon said he got a call this week about the possibility of having HIV or Hepatitis C after he had dental surgery back in January.
Stay-at-home dad John Wagnon is thankful for another day with his two daughters after a medical scare that could have changed his life. 

He said he got a call Monday night from the Cherokee Nation, saying he needed to get blood work done to be tested for HIV and Hepatitis C. 

"I just started freaking out," said Wagnon. "She just said it was a lapse in procedure. It could have been anything from a date wrong or time wrong on sterilization of the tools to maintenance not changing out air filters when they should have."

Wagnon's blood work results came back Wednesday night and he got a relieving phone call saying he tested negative for both.

"I'm clean. I didn't get nothing," Wagnon said. 

Now he's trying to get answers about what exactly happened the day he had surgery at the Hastings Hospital, and why it took so long to find out he needed to be tested. 

"Then five, six months I could have had it, transferred it to my kids, my wife," Wagnon said. 

Despite that, Wagnon said he's gone to the same hospital his whole life and doesn't plan to stop now.

"All I want is for someone to call me and say 'Hey, we messed up. Here's what happened, and here's what we did to fix it.' That's all I want," he said.  

The Cherokee Nation released this statement: 

“There was a brief lapse in protocol at W.W. Hastings Hospital earlier this year. There are no indications patient health care was compromised, but out of an overabundance of caution, some patients were asked to return for testing. Test results from every patient thus far have shown no harmful exposure, and have reinforced our belief that patient health is not at risk. Cherokee Nation Health Services is the largest tribally operated health care system in the United States, seeing more than one million patient visits per year with many accreditations focusing on continuous quality improvement, including many involving integrity and continuity of care. Our doctors, nurses and other health care professionals provide diligent, compassionate care during those one million annual patient visits, and we will continue to put patient health, safety and peace of mind first.”