Letter to the Editor Potential Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) exposure: To notify or not to notify

Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease targeted lookback

“…Negative emotional responses were reported by two‐thirds of patients 1 . The other hospital notified the attending physician and strongly recommended that he or she inform the recipient of the possible exposure to CJD 2 …”

“…The two reported lookbacks 1,2 attest to the fact that recipients of blood products or components prefer to know about risks, even if hypothetical. Health care policy should incorporate the cost of lookbacks for each infectious agent so that hospitals can be reimbursed on a per‐patient basis.…”

“…After considerable debate, it was decided that the authors' hospital would attempt to notify the recipients of products from these lots. Two other Toronto hospitals had also elected to notify recipients of these blood products 1,2 . One of these hospitals, The Hospital for Sick Children, notified 528 families directly and then undertook a survey of 190 of these families to determine how patients and parents felt about being notified.…”