A Pennsylvania appeals court panel has ruled that six people who contracted hepatitis C from a former UPMC worker should be allowed to present their case against the Pittsburgh-based system to a jury, according to TribLIVE.
David Kwiatkowski, a radiology technician, was fired from UPMC Presbyterian in 2008 after hospital officials learned he was injecting pain medicine into his body and then refilling the used syringes and putting them back in the hospital's medical supplies, according to the report.
The lawsuits allege that UPMC failed to report Mr. Kwiatkowski's actions to law enforcement officials after he was fired, allowing him to secure employment at Hays (Kan.) Medical Center. Mr. Kwiatkowski continued stealing pain medication at his new job, and seven patients, including the six plaintiffs, contracted hepatitis C from his tainted syringes, according to the report.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick dismissed plaintiffs' negligence and duty-to-report claims against UPMC and Columbia, Md.-based medical staffing company Maxim Healthcare Services. The appeals court panel revived the duty-to-report claims.
"This ruling ignores the clear facts that upon learning of his diversion, we immediately removed him from practice at UPMC, had him drug tested, notified his employer, and reported the diversion to the Attorney General's office," wrote UPMC spokeswoman Gloria A. Kreps in a statement to TribLIVE.
After leaving Pittsburgh, Mr. Kwiatkowski moved between jobs at 18 hospitals in seven states before he was arrested in New Hampshire in 2012. He is currently serving a 39-year prison sentence for stealing painkillers and infecting dozens of patients with hepatitis C, according to the report.
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