Surgical Tech Spread Hep-C, Plea Deal Rejected
Posted on 25. Jan, 2010 in News Stories
Some of you may recall an incident last summer when a surgical tech from Colorado was arrested for stealing and reusing needles meant for patients, spreading hepatitis C to numerous patients. She pleaded guilty with the agreement to a 20-year sentence, but last week Friday a federal judge rejected the terms on grounds that the sentence wasn’t long enough.
Related Case Studies
Delia could feel herself waking up from the anesthetic, remembering where she was and why she was there. She could hear the distant bustle of the hospital, the rhythmic beep of the machines, and the doctor’s lips against hers…wait, what?
Dr. Dunham just wanted to teach and be helpful, but sometimes seemingly kind acts can slowly spin out of control. They can even be potentially fatal. What do you think?
Dr. Blum just couldn’t resist his sexual urges–taking things just a bit too far.
Kristen D. Parker began using drugs experimentally in high school, including using substances such as marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, and LSD. After receiving jaw surgery in 2000, she got hooked to Fentanyl (a painkiller that is highly addictive). While living in New York, she lied her way through job applications and interviews to get a position as a surgical tech with easy access to drugs.
At her job, she figured out how to steal syringes filled with Fentanyl meant for patients and refill them with a sterile saline solution. She then returned the syringes back to their original places for use on patients. Eventually, she lost her job in New York, got a job at Houston, TX, and also began using heroin and “borrowing” needles.
She decided to return to Colorado in order to, ironically, quit drugs and get her life back in order. Living with her parents, she eventually recovered from using heroin and again looked for a job as a surgical tech. She began working at Rose Hospital after lying about her past and passing a urine test.
It was after starting work at Rose Hospital that Kristen found out she had contracted hepatitis C somewhere along the line. However, she did nothing about it.
Clearly not free from her cravings, Kristen began stealing Fentanyl again just a few days into her new job. Twice, a needle in her pocket accidentally pricked another employee. While the first incident only caused an investigation without her losing her job, the second resulted in Rose Hospital testing her specifically for Fentanyl. Not surprisingly, she failed that test and left her job at Rose.
It was not even a month before she found work at Audubon Surgery Center in April 2009 and continued to feed her Fentanyl addiction.
Soon, she was pinpointed during an investigation into a hepatitis C outbreak at Rose Hospital. Police arrested her in July 2009, and she pleaded guilty in September to “tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit or subterfuge.”
Kristen must now decide whether to withdraw her guilty plea, make another plea deal, or allow the judge to sentence her. As a side note, Kristen is also a mother to a young child.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne disease that currently has no cure. Currently, there are 36 confirmed cases of hepatitis C directly linked to her, while almost 6,000 patients had been exposed. All the infected are from Rose Hospital or Audubon Surgery Center so far.
cheecochihuahua
Jan 25th, 2010
Can’t believe an employer didn’t catch her sooner. 2000-approximately 2010 is a long time to hide an addiction. Where were the supervisor reviews, co-workers, friends and family during this time frame? Don’t understand how even the best liar could fill the gaps and rational for leaving past jobs during interview process. Doesn’t say much for the facilities that employed this lady. Even the small private hospital I am employed at has a long(couple months) orientation/preceptor program before any nurse/tech is turned loose to care for patients alone. People that knowingly infect or potentially infect others should be imprisioned and pay restitution to parties involved. GRRR
cheecochihuahua
Jan 25th, 2010
Maybe this lady could be a medical experiment guinea pig for drug trials since she enjoys needles. Something positive from a negative!
Donald
Jan 25th, 2010
It really does seem pretty crazy that so many places did such bad jobs screening new employees. Just lying got her through. At least they finally got suspicious at Rose.
RachLv
Jan 25th, 2010
Sometimes these hospitals are so strapped to finding workers that people slip through. It happens much more than we realize, it’s just most of them don’t start a serious outbreak of disease.
What_The_Heck
Jan 27th, 2010
@RachLv While I do agree with your statement I have to add that slipping through just doesn’t cut it here. She didn’t slip through 1 place, she slipped through multiple places. How can this be? With the modern age we live in having everything tied together through digital files there really is no excuse for someone to be able to “slip through” especially in the health arena.
MN LPN
Feb 24th, 2010
The problem here is that work-related references are useless, all they will tell you is that a potential employee worked for them from this date to that date…the legal system protects more than just the good guys.