CIVIL ACTION FILED IN CASE OF MEDICAL TECHNICIAN ACCUSED OF INFECTING PATIENTS WITH HEPATITIS C
Negligence exposed thousands of patients in 8 states to hepatitis C
Pittsburgh, PA – September 4, 2012 - Today in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (PA), Kansas residents Linda and William Ficken filed a civil action against UPMC Presbyterian, Maxim Staffing Solutions, Inc., and Medical Solutions, LLC, for negligence leading to Mrs. Ficken’s infection with hepatitis C.
Specifically, the suit states that UPMC Presbyterian and Maxim Staffing Solutions, Inc failed to take proper action when radiology technician David Kwiatkowski was found engaging in illicit behavior that could endanger patients. Further, it states that Medical Solutions, LLC failed to properly check the background of Kwiatkowski and failed to properly monitor his performance.
Click here to read the complaint:
http://www.pittsburghmedicalmalpractice.com/FickenvUPMC.PDF
“In their failure to report and monitor Mr. Kwiatkowski’s highly illicit behavior, UPMC, Maxim Staffing Solutions, and Medical Solutions each exhibited a reckless indifference to the rights and safety of thousands of patients across the country,” said William R. Caroselli of the Pittsburgh-based law firm Caroselli, Beachler, McTiernan & Conboy. “As a result, Linda Ficken and potentially many others like her will have to pay the price. Those companies need to be held accountable for their irresponsible negligence.”
According to news reports, “Kwiatkowski was a few weeks into a temporary job at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh in 2008 when a co-worker accused him of lifting a syringe containing an addictive painkiller from an operating room and sticking it down his pants. More syringes were found in his pockets and locker. A drug test showed he had fentanyl and other opiates in his system.” [Associated Press, 8/27/12]
According to the complaint, Kwiatkowski was removed from the job at UPMC; however, UPMC did not report his behavior to law enforcement or any government agency. Maxim Staffing Solutions, the healthcare staffing agency that placed Kwiatkowski at UPMC, also failed to report the conduct.
Kwiatkowski was arrested last month in New Hampshire, “where he stands accused of infecting at least 31 Exeter Hospital patients with hepatitis C by stealing fentanyl syringes and replacing them with dirty ones tainted with his blood.” [Associated Press, 8/27/12]
As a result of UPMC and Maxim Staffing Solutions’ joint failure to report Kwiatkowski’s behavior to law enforcement or any government agency in 2008 and Medical Solutions’ failure to properly perform a background check or monitor his performance on the job, he was able to continue working at hospitals all over the country, putting thousands of patients at risk for hepatitis C.
Following his departure from UPMC, Kwiatkowski worked as a radiology technician at ten hospitals in eight states between 2008 and 2012. The following is the list of hospitals in which he worked during that time:
-- Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, May 2008 to November 2008;
-- Southern Maryland Hospital, Clinton, Maryland, December 2008 to February 2009;
-- Maryvale Hospital, Phoenix, March to June 2009;
-- Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, July 2009 to January 2010;
-- Maryland General Hospital, Baltimore, January 2010 to March 2010;
-- Arizona Heart Hospital, Phoenix, March 2010 to April 2010;
-- Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, April 2010;
-- Hays Medical Center, Hays, Kansas, May 2010 to September 2010;
-- Houston Medical Center, Warner Robins, Georgia, October 2010 to March 2011;
-- Exeter Hospital, Exeter, New Hampshire, April 2011 to July 2012.
[CNN, 7/27/12]
Plaintiff Linda Ficken tested positive for hepatitis C in July 2012, two years after she was a patient at Hays Medical Center, the Kansas hospital where Kwiatkowski worked. Kwiatkwosi was placed at Hays Medical Center by staffing agency Medical Solutions, LLC.
“If these companies would have acted responsibly, they could have halted Mr. Kwiatkowski’s terrifying parade of reckless behavior and prevented the hepatitis C infections,” said Lynn R. Johnson of the Kansas City-based law firm Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman. “There is no excuse for what happened to Linda, and it’s imperative that we hold the companies accountable for their wanton negligence.”
Linda and William Ficken are represented by:
Lynn R. Johnson
Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman
Kansas City, MO
(866) 484-8966
http://www.sjblaw.com/
William R. Caroselli
Caroselli, Beachler, McTiernan & Conboy
Pittsburgh, PA
(866) 466-5789
http://www.cbmclaw.com/
# # #
Mark Nevins
Desk: 267-234-7334
E-mail: mark@doverstrategygroup.com
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