David Kwiatkowski, a former cardiac technician at Exeter (N.H.) Hospital, has been sentenced to 39 years in prison for infecting 45 patients with hepatitis C, one of whom has died, according to a report from CBS News.
Mr. Kwiatkowski, a hepatitis C-positive individual who by his own admission is addicted to alcohol and painkillers, stole syringes filled with the painkiller Fentanyl, injected them into himself. He replaced the liquid inside with a saline solution, which was then used on cardiac patients. The used needles spread hepatitis C to 45 of the patients exposed to the disease.
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Mr. Kwiatkowski had worked in 18 hospitals in seven states, according to the report. Of the 45 hepatitis cases he caused, 32 were in New Hampshire, seven were in Maryland, six were in Kansas, and one was in Pennsylvania.
As part of his plea bargain, he admitted he had been stealing drugs since 2002, according to the report.
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