January 12, 2005

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remi nder Today's ope ning classes follow a regular Monday schedule!

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sports

Duke steps in on relief efforts, analysis of tsunami disaster /

Unbeaten men's hoops copes with injuries headed into ACC^|L^Nq|

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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2005

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1M ONE HUNDREDTH YEAR, ISSUE 72

THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY

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Fluid snafu taints surgical supplies Duke claims minimal effects for thousands of local patients by

Steve Veres

THE CHRONICLE

cfixiujh few on-campus eateries were open when students first returned from winter break, by Tuesday it was business as usual.

Early birds starve for options by

Skyward Darby THE CHRONICLE

Freshman Laura Brookhiser was excited to spend Sunday participating in the first round of sorority recruitment. But during a long day of walking around campus for meet-and-greets she faced a dilemma; she was hungry and had nowhere to eat. Like hundreds of other undergraduate women who poured onto campus for recruitment the first time the event has been held the weekend before the —

spring

semester

begins—

Brookhiser faced empty counters and locked doors at many campus eateries. Despite the nearly

800 students scheduled for dorm move-in over the weekend, only four food vendors opened for limited hours Saturday and Sunday, leaving many students with little time to grab a meal. “I didn’t get to eat all day,” Brookhiser said. “I just went to rush and was really hungry for the whole six hours I was there.,” Accessibility to food Sunday morning was made more difficult by the fact that East-West SEE EARLY ON PAGE 10

More than 4,000 patients treated at Duke-run hospitals were exposed to contaminated surgical equipment after thousands of tools were washed with elevator hydraulic fluid instead of standard detergent. Officials from Duke University Health System sent letters to the patients Dec. 28 informing them that at Duke Health Raleigh Hospital and Durham Regional Hospital barrels that normally contain detergent were accidentally filled with petroleum-based hydraulic fluid and used throughout November and December. Officials said a mechanic drained the hydraulic fluid into empty detergent drums during a routine elevator inspection at the Raleigh hospital and neglected to re-label the barrels. Even though officials insist a more thorough investigation is needed in order to identify the exact procedural problem, these drums reentered the supply chain at both Duke Health Raleigh and Durham ReThe substance was used instead of detergent until a surgical doctor noticed an abnormal oily and sticky residue on the tools. Administrators said they are in discussions with Cardinal Health,

the supplier of the detergent, and Automatic Elevator, the elevator service company, in order to determine the root of the problem. Neither company could be reached for comment. Katie Galbraith, director of marketing and corporate communications at Durham Regional, said it was not unusual for the tools to have a greasy residue, as the cleaning process includes a lubricant that keeps the tools’ hinges loose. She also said the hydraulic fluid looks and feels similar to the detergent and that both have a similar viscosity. Since hospital officials realized the mistake, all tools have been rewashed and sterilized as a precaution. Duke specialists remained unconcerned about the health hazards associated with the accidental mix-up. “We have been assured by our local experts that this is a low-level toxic substance—a category one, which is the same category as the detergent that should have been used—so we don't foresee any adverse effects related to hydraulic fluid,” said Dr. Keith Kaye, Duke physician and co-chair of the Duke Infection Control Network. SEE FLUIDS ON PAGE 12

Econ grad student, 29, remembered as scholar by

Matt Sullivan THE CHRONICLE

Shauna Saunders, a sixth-year doctoral student in the Department of Economics, died Dec. 3 at Duke University Hospital. A burgeoning force in her field, a devoted teacher and a wit with a shoe obsession, Saunders struggled with a chronic liver disease she carried since childhood even as her body broke down and multiple liver transplants at Duke fell through She was 29 “I found myself quite unrecognizable and quite scared,” Saunders wrote in her final on-

line journal entry to friends and family. “I continue to hold all of my doctors in trust and realize just how much their hands are tied as well, as they acknowledge with all variety of bedside manner, good and bad, how they are asking incredible, perhaps too incredible, things from me.... I hope that my love and gratitude is something that you all carry with you, and can rely on or something. Trust in.” At age 11, Saunders was diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis, a rare disease that causes one’s immune system to SEE SAUNDERS ON PAGE 12

Freshmen Rush in

Prospective sorority members like Melissa Barr (right) primped and prepared as rush week took over Duke’s campus early this year. Upperclassmen from groups like Alpha Phi (left) will continue recruitment through Sunday.


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