20 Victims of Hep C Exposure
Tragically the first Colorado Springs case of hepatitis C linked to the surgical technician recently arrested has been identified. One person who underwent surgery at the Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs appears to have contracted hepatitis C from surgical technician Kristen Diane Parker, the Colorado Department of Health and Environment reported today.
Parker worked at both the Rose Medical Center in Denver and at the Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs. This new case brings the total of patients who appear to have contracted hepatitis C from Parker to 20. Health officials believe as many as 5.700 people were potentially exposed to the disease by Parker's actions. See Patients exposed to Hep C.
A Denver federal grand jury indicted Parker on 42 counts Thursday, including 21 counts of product tampering and 21 counts of obtaining a controlled substance by deceit. Parker admitted to police she stole the medication from surgery rooms and injected herself with syringes containing fentanyl, a powerful narcotic. Prosecutors allege Parker then refilled used syringes with saline and placed them back on surgical trays before a procedure, potentially exposing the patient to the Hepatitis C virus.
The indictment handed up Thursday alleges Parker began taking the pain killers from operating rooms on Oct. 22, two days after she started working at Rose Medical Center. Parker worked at Rose from Oct. 20 until April 13, when she was placed on administrative leave for failing a drug test. She came under suspicion at Rose about two weeks earlier when a syringe in her top scrub pocket poked a co-worker. See Hep C Infection for more information.