SOME of the surgical tools introduced this year to help prevent transmission
of vCJD have caused surgeons serious problems, New Scientist has learned.
The tool, which is thrown away after a single use, is a pair of electrical
forceps for heat-sealing blood vessels after tonsillectomy. The NHS called for
disposable versions in January on the advice of Britain’s Spongiform
Encephalopathy Advisory Committee. Hospitals bought them from suppliers in a
number of countries. New Scientist has established that some were actually
reusable devices made in nations where cheap labour makes them inexpensive
enough to be disposable.
Surgeons who attempted to use…
