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The New York State Department of Health issued a notification Monday to patients of a medical practice in Westchester County that they may have been exposed to HIV or hepatitis B or C.
State health officials advised patients of Dr. Timothy Morley who received an intravenous infusion, injection or a blood draw at Tomorrow Medicine locations, at 37 Moore Ave. No. 3 in Mount Kisco, or 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains, or at a previous medical practice known as Advanced Medicine of Mount Kisco, to get tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV.
Dr. Morley’s patients may come from surrounding counties and states, and NYSDOH is sharing this information with public health officials in all 50 states.
Officials have ordered Morley, the owner of Tomorrow Medicine, to immediately stop practicing medicine pending a formal hearing.
The Westchester County Department of Health has been working closely with the New York State Department of Health to investigate after four individuals connected with Dr. Morley tested positive for hepatitis C virus.
“As the health commissioner for Westchester County, I strongly encourage any of Dr. Timothy Morley’s patients who have received an intravenous infusion, injection or a blood draw to contact their health care provider to get tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV," said Westchester County Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler. "I also want Dr. Morley’s patients to know that the Westchester County Department of Health stands ready to assist them by providing these tests at no cost at county facilities.”
To arrange for testing through Westchester County, Dr. Morley’s patients should call the Westchester County Department of Health at (914) 995-7499, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
This investigation began when the Westchester County Department of Health was notified about the first of these four Hepatitis C positive results, through an electronic lab report. That same day, as is routine, WCDH sent a letter to the doctor who had ordered the Hepatitis C test notifying him of his patient’s positive result and requesting further information about any risk factors, vaccine history and reasons for testing. In this case, that doctor was Morley, a doctor of osteopathy, with offices in Mount Kisco and White Plains.
The county health department made site visits together with the New York State Department of Health to Morley’s offices and subsequently learned that three other patients of Morley’s had tested positive for Hepatitis C. Of the four, three are Westchester County residents and one is from Dutchess County. These individuals had no other obvious risk factors other than IV therapy and/or blood draws at Morley’s office and did not have any symptoms.
NYSDOH and the Westchester County Department of Health arranged to have blood from all four patients tested at Wadsworth Center, NYS’s public health laboratory. Test results were made available on Friday. As indicated on the NYSDOH news release, molecular testing at the state lab determined the strain of Hepatitis C in all four patients was identical, suggesting transmission likely occurred at the practice.
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