Dr. Stephen Stein: Three patients of alleged needle re-user test positive for HIV or hepatitis

Last month, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment revealed that Dr. Stephen Stein, an oral surgeon who'd practiced in Highlands Ranch and Cherry Creek, was under investigation for allegedly re-using needles and syringes. The CDPHE encouraged all 8,000 of his patients between September 1999 and June 2011 to...

By Chris Utterback

August 2, 2012

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Last month, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment revealed that Dr. Stephen Stein, an oral surgeon who'd practiced in Highlands Ranch and Cherry Creek, was under investigation for allegedly re-using needles and syringes. The CDPHE encouraged all 8,000 of his patients between September 1999 and June 2011 to be checked for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and of those who've done so, three tested positive.

CDPHE spokesman Mark Salley says that the lab findings cannot be definitely traced back to unsafe practices at Stein's office, and that no one can be sure how many people have really been infected.

"We don't know if it is three out of a hundred, three out of a thousand," he notes. "We only know of positive test results."

Stein, who is also accused of prescription fraud, entered into a cessation of practice agreement with the Colorado State Board of Dental Examiners in June of last year, and his offices have been closed. According to 9News, Stein moved out of his home one day before news broke that the CDPHE was investigating his practice.

The CDPHE urges people who may have received intravenous medication from Stein from 1999 to 2011 to contact their health care provider and get tested HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C immediately.

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