Quick Picks: VA Hospital’s Tainted Equipment and California Cronyism — ProPublica

Quick Picks: VA Hospital’s Tainted Equipment and California Cronyism

March 27, 2009, 10:35 a.m. EDT

The Miami Veterans Administration hospital may have exposed thousands of veterans to HIV and hepatitis by improperly sanitizing colonoscopy equipment, despite being warned by the Department of Veterans Affairs after problems at another hospital, McClatchy reports. The hospital sent a letter Monday to more than 3,000 patients who may have been exposed since 2004.

Also, the California state legislature is doing its best to stimulate the economy by offering jobs, often with vague responsibilities and good salaries, to the politically well-connected, the Los Angeles Times reports. Lawmakers are able to hire whom they wish, with little oversight, and as a result at least a dozen family members, friends and political candidates looking for something to tide them over between elections are on the state payroll, costing state taxpayers more than $700,000 last year.

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