 According to a troubling report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, one health care provider’s violation of VA protocol may have infected hundreds of veterans. Acting Medical Center Director Victoria Brahm said the dentist was using his own equipment, then cleaning it and reusing it, which violates the VA's regulations. VA rules require the use of disposable instruments, throwing them out after use. This practice went on for one year, from October 2015 to October 2016, and now 592 veterans are at risk of having contracted Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or HIV. It was only reported when someone substituting for the dentist’s regular assistant saw what was going on and notified authorities. That dentist has been removed from patient care and is now working in an administrative role. The inspector general’s office is reportedly looking into whether criminal charges are appropriate. “It was purposeful that he was violating VA regulations,” she said, according to WEAU. "During all of the orientation, he used all of our equipment. He used it appropriately, so it was very purposeful from what we found in our investigation that he knew exactly what he was doing, and preferred to use his own equipment against procedure.” 
 
 So far, there is no report that anyone was infected, but the VA is offering free screenings to the 592 people who they determined are at risk. The VA is offering free screenings to those veterans and will provide free medical treatment to those who test positive for an infection. A timeline of the over-medication scandal and subsequent investigation at the Tomah VA Medical Center 
 
 Where to go for help 
 
 The Tomah VA has sent letters to 592 patients treated over the past year by a dentist who was found to be improperly sterilizing his tools. Testing is available through Dec. 22 at Building 400, room #1054 on the Tomah campus weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
– The VA is offering free testing to nearly 600 veterans in Wisconsin who may have been infected with hepatitis or HIV by a rogue dentist, Law Newz reports. The dentist providing care at the VA in Tomah was using his own dental instruments. And while the dentist sterilized the tools between uses, VA rules say he was supposed to use disposable instruments and throw them away after each use. Acting medical center director Victoria Brahm tells WEAU that the dentist's actions were "purposeful." "He knew exactly what he was doing and preferred to use his own equipment against procedure," she says. The dentist was using his own tools between October 2015 and October 2016. An assistant subbing for the dentist's normal assistant ratted him out to authorities. On Tuesday, the VA started contacting the 592 vets who received treatment from the dentist, offering free testing for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and HIV, the La Crosse Tribune reports. There have been no reports of infections stemming from dental work at the Tomah VA. “Out of an abundance of caution it’s still the proper thing to do," a VA spokesperson says regarding free testing. The dentist is no longer treating patients but is still working at the VA; he may face criminal charges. His regular dental assistant is also being investigated. The Tomah VA was recently under investigation for over prescribing painkillers in connection with the deaths of at least two vets. "I don't think they are paying them enough to keep good support staff ... so we suffer," one vet tells WEAU.