Medical Technician Indicted in Exeter Hospital Hepatitis C Outbreak

The former Exeter Hospital medical technician who allegedly infected more than 30 people with the Hepatitis C virus has been charged with several counts of fraud and product tampering.

CNN reports that David Kwiatkowski was indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the Hepatitis C outbreak at New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital. Kwiatkowski was diagnosed with the sometimes-fatal virus about 10 months before he started working at the hospital in April 2011. He allegedly caused over 30 individuals in New Hampshire and elsewhere to become infected with Hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can cause serious damage to the liver.

Kwiatkowski was charged with seven counts of tampering with a consumer product and seven counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Hampshire. The indictment says that he worked on a contract basis as a travelling medical technician for hospitals in Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania before his arrest in July of this year.

Kwiatkowski allegedly abused the hospital’s supply of a powerful narcotic, fentanyl, and reused the infected syringes on patients who were scheduled for surgery in the hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab. The patients, who were supposed to be getting fentanyl, were instead given saline infected with Kwiatkowski’s tainted blood, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office.

Several Hepatitis C lawsuits have been filed as a result of the Exeter Hospital outbreak.

If you were exposed to Hepatitis C at Exeter Hospital, contact Sokolove Law for a free legal consultation and to find out if you may pursue legal action.

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