Colo. dentist may have infected patients with HIV

DENVER (AP) – State health officials say it is too early to tell if anyone has been infected by a Colorado dentist accused of reusing syringes and needles to administer drugs to some of his patients over more than a decade.

Dr. Chris Urbina, executive director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said Friday no specific infections have been linked to the offices of the dentist, identified as Stephen Stein. The dentist operated Stein Oral and Facial Surgery from September 1999 until June 2011, first in Highlands Ranch, a subdivision south of Denver, then in Denver.

Urbina says letters were mailed Thursday to at least 8,000 patients advising them to be tested for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C if they received intravenous drugs under Stein’s care.