The quiet Burlington community has been rocked by revelations that potentially thousands of patients at a local medical clinic were exposed to unsterile needles and medication vials—a shocking breach of medical protocol that has left one mother desperately searching for answers about her child’s health.
Sarah Wilson’s nine-year-old daughter received multiple vitamin B12 injections at the Burlington clinic between January and May 2023. The treatments were meant to address her child’s fatigue and general malaise. Now, Wilson faces an agonizing wait to learn if those injections may have exposed her daughter to serious bloodborne pathogens, including HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
“I’m absolutely horrified,” Wilson told CO24 in an exclusive interview. “You trust medical professionals with your child’s health, and to discover they may have been using contaminated equipment—it’s a betrayal of the most fundamental kind.”
The investigation began after Halton Region Public Health received a complaint in May about concerning infection control practices at the clinic. Health officials have not disclosed how many patients could be affected, but sources familiar with the clinic’s operations suggest the number may reach into the thousands, spanning procedures conducted over several years.
“Our primary concern is the health and well-being of all affected individuals,” said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region’s Medical Officer of Health. “We are working diligently to identify all patients who may have been exposed and to provide appropriate testing and support.”
The clinic, which has not been publicly identified by health officials pending the investigation, offered various treatments including vitamin injections, IV therapies, and other medical procedures. According to CO24 News, the facility has been temporarily closed while investigators examine the full scope of the potential contamination.
Health officials are recommending testing for all patients who received injections or IV treatments at the clinic. The Ministry of Health has established a dedicated hotline for concerned patients, which has reportedly been overwhelmed with calls since the announcement.
For Wilson, the wait for answers has been excruciating. “My daughter is too young to fully understand what’s happening, but she knows something is wrong. How do I explain to her that a place meant to help her might have made her sick?”
Medical experts consulted by CO24 Canada emphasized that while the risk of transmission for diseases like HIV and hepatitis through improperly sterilized equipment is relatively low, it is not zero.
“The standard of care in any medical setting is absolutely clear,” explained Dr. Marcus Chen, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital. “Single-use needles must be disposed of immediately after use, and multi-dose medication vials must be handled with completely sterile technique. There’s no room for error here—these are fundamental principles taught on day one of medical training.”
This incident follows several similar cases in Ontario over the past decade, raising questions about the adequacy of oversight for private medical and wellness clinics. In 2018, a Toronto clinic was shut down after similar infection control breaches, resulting in hundreds of patients requiring testing.
Health policy experts are calling for stronger regulatory frameworks. “The current system relies heavily on complaint-based investigations rather than proactive inspections,” noted Dr. Sylvia Richards of the Canadian Healthcare Policy Institute. “By the time a complaint is made, countless patients may have already been exposed.”
For families like the Wilsons, policy discussions offer little comfort as they face an uncertain wait. Initial blood tests take weeks for results, and follow-up testing may be required for up to six months to definitively rule out infections.
“The mental toll is immense,” Wilson admitted. “Every time my daughter complains of feeling tired or unwell, my mind immediately jumps to the worst possibilities.”
As this story continues to unfold across Ontario, many are left wondering: in a healthcare system we trust with our most vulnerable, how many other facilities might be operating with dangerously inadequate safety protocols, and what will it take to ensure this never happens again?
