A hepatitis B cluster is under investigation in the Toms River area after five people came down with the disease. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services is leading the investigation and they're advising nearly 3,000 people to get blood tests. Five people, all of whom have the same doctor, recently were found to have the disease which can become chronic if left untreated. However, there is much controversy over the handling of the case as the attorney for the doctor being named has made stunning accusations against Ocean County officials.
A letter sent out by the Ocean County Health Department to patients of Dr. Parvez Dara claim the five cases of hepatitis B can be traced to his office in Toms River. On Tuesday afternoon when the story first broke, Health Department Spokesman Ed Rumen would not comment on the name of the doctor or the specifics of the letter. Within a few hours, the Asbury Park Press published the name of the doctor that they claimed they received from a letter from the State Health Department. Several requests by WOBM News to obtain the letter from either health department was met with opposition. We withheld the name of the doctor on air until we were able to verify the sources. Eventually, contact with Dr. Dara's attorney led us to some concrete answers.Attorney Robert Conroy who represents Dr. Dara says this whole thing is absolutely ridiculous and his client had nothing to do with these unfortunate cases. Conroy says in the cases they reviewed "two of the patients did not receive care at Dr. Dara's office but at a local hospital. Three of the cases - the patients already had the disease before being seen by the doctor."
Neither The Ocean County Health Department nor The State Health Department would comment about the doctor in question. Instead, the Ocean County Health Department faxed WOBM News a four page press release on hepatitis B and directed all future inquires about the case to the state department. At this point, investigators aren't sure what caused the outbreak. Ocean County health officials say two cases of hepatitis B were confirmed there in late February, and state officials recently learned of three more cases, all in Toms River.Conroy says "the Ocean County Health Department was negligent in this case. All of the information regarding the patients in question was known to them and instead of going by facts, they did nothing to follow up on it. We tried to work with them but instead, they chose to grandstand and get some publicity." Conroy adds he had suggested "the health department set up a call center so concerned residents can get answers to their questions" but he said "that never happened." Conroy says he plans to take legal action and will be contacting the state commission of investigations because he feels the negligence is "criminal in this case."
Dr. Cory Robertson, a spokesman with the State Health Department says the evidence they have against Dr. Dara is good and that the claims made by Conroy are false. Robertson says "we have alerted all of the doctor's patients dating back to 2002 to be on the safe side and regardless, those who received letters should be tested for hepatitis B."
The disease is transferred by blood exchange or contact with open sores, but not considered a threat to the liver. Symptoms include fatigue, fever, abdominal pain and dark urine. Spokesman Ed Rumen says they know of five, none with typical risk factors. Some symptoms may go unnoticed, others are obvious. All procedures involving needles and syringes at the medical practice have stopped until the probe is complete.
Calls to the State Medical Board in regards to the doctor's license went unreturned.
Dr. Robertson says the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners and the Centers for Disease Control are all apart of this investigation. The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services is leading the investigation but their web site is telling concerned citizens and patients to contact the Ocean County Health Department at 732-341-9700 extension 7502. The hours of operation are Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. For general information when those health officials aren't available, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can be reached at 1-800-CDC-INFO.
by Jason Allentoff
Image courtesy Google Medical Images
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