HEPATITIS TESTS West Virginia DHHR Purchases More Hepatitis C Kits
Reported by: Associated Press
Web Producer: Bethany Simmons
Also Contributing: Mamie Buoy
Reported: Oct. 23, 2012 10:02 AM EDT
Updated: Oct. 23, 2012 5:57 PM EDT
Eyewitness News Photo
Charleston
, Kanawha County
, West Virginia
The Department of Health and Human Resources no longer has a shortage of blood test kits for hepatitis C.
On Oct. 17, the DHHR's Office of Laboratory Services told county health officials it had used up its hepatitis C testing kits and would halt testing for two weeks. The office cited problems with a bid process. The state's contract with a California company that supplied the kits expired earlier this year.
County health officials rely on the DHHR to test blood samples for hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted diseases.
DHHR spokeswoman Marsha Dadisman said the state conducted an emergency purchase of testing kits on Oct. 19, but didn't immediately tell county health departments.
The mountain state has suspended testing blood for hepatitis C because it ran out of the test kits.
County health departments rely on the Department of Health and Human Resources to test blood samples for hepatitis C and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The Charleston Daily Mail reports that the DHHR's Office of Laboratory Services recently notified the counties that it is temporarily halting hepatitis C tests because it doesn't have any test kits. The office cited problems with a bid process.
The state's contract with a California company that supplied the kits expired earlier this year. The Office of Laboratory Services told county health departments that two bids for a new contract didn't meet the specifications.
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Associated Press
