Colorado Hospital Employee Put Thousands at Risk for Hepatitis C

Possibly 6,000 People Exposed

A 26-year old health worker may have exposed up to 6,000 people to hepatitis C as a result of using dirty syringes at 2 hospitals in Colorado, MSNBC is reporting today.

Currently in custody, facing charges of tampering with a consumer product, creating a counterfeit controlled substance, and obtaining a controlled substance by deception or subterfuge, Kristen Diane Parker allegedly injected herself with painkillers intended for post-surgical patients. She then filled the used syringes with saline solution for re-use. Parker had tested positive for hepatitis C when she began work at the center, but this does not preclude employment at the hospital. It is also being reported that Parker may not have been aware that she had hepatitis C.

Parker was fired from her job at Rose Medical Center on April 22, 2009, after testing positive for the painkiller Fentanyl, however she then got a job at the Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs, where she worked until the first week of July. She was arrested Friday, July 3.

Patients who underwent surgery while at Rose Medical Center have reportedly been notified to come in for a free blood test. According to state medical officials 9 people have tested positive for the virus so far.

JULY-07-09: Hospital worker held in hepatitis C case [MSNBC: HOSPITAL WORKER HELD IN HEPATITIS C CASE]

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Published on Jul-7-09