Possible 6,000 Colorado patients exposed-Hep C

July 16, 2009
10:30 pm

Justice Seeker

Heather L. Ryan, R.N., C.L.N.C- Heather Ryan is a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant with 15 years of experience in the health care industry. Her expertise in reviewing medical records and assisting lawyers with the determination as to whether legal action should be taken provides an invaluable asset to the newsroom. Medical-malpractice, products liability, personal injury and workers’ compensation are some of the recent areas of litigation Ms. Ryan has focused her efforts on. A member of the Florida Justice Association, Heather maintains a long list of certifications and credentials to support her areas of expertise and stays up-to-date with her clinical knowledge working as an emergency room/trauma nurse, at a Level 1, Adult/Pediatric trauma and teaching institution in South Florida.

Possible 6,000 Colorado patients exposed-Hep C

Legal news for Colorado medical malpractice attorneys.

Denver area surgical tech accused of exposing 6,000 patients to Hepatitis C

Denver, CO–A 10th patient was diagnosed with Hepatitis C after treatment at one of the two Colorado hospitals in question of medical malpractice and negligence. A surgery technician who worked at both Audobon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs and Rose Medical Center in Denver, allegedly infected needles with Hepatitis C after injecting herself with a potent painkiller. The technician then reportedly returned the used needles to the storage shelves that were later used to inject innocent victims, as reported by 9NEWS.

Kristen Diane Parker, 26, is accused of injecting herself with the highly potent painkiller, Fentanyl. Allegedly Parker then filled the used syringes with a saline solution, to hide the fact she was stealing the painkiller. It is estimated more than 6,000 patients may have been infected or exposed to the infectious disease between October 2008 and June 29, 2009. According to Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org Hepatitis C is an infectious disease, which attacks the liver, and can eventually develop into liver cancer. The disease is only spread from blood to blood contact and it is estimated 270-300 million people worldwide are infected with the disease.

Parker is reportedly scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Thursday, July 16, 2009, in a federal court. Parker is charged with tampering with a consumer product, creating a counterfeit controlled substance, and obtaining a controlled substance by deception or subterfuge. If she is found guilty, Parker can face more than 30 years in prison. In addition, if Parker’s disregard for human health and safety shows her actions killed someone, she may face life in prison. Additional prison time may be added to Parkers sentence, if her negligent actions seriously harmed innocent patients receiving surgery at the two hospitals.

The painkiller embroiled in the horrific medical malpractice case, is a synthetic opioid, which is used to treat pain in patients who are post-operative and are in chronic pain, according to Wikipedia. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent then morphine, and is the most widely used synthetic opioid in the medical practice field. The potent painkiller has been found to be more addictive than heroin.

Legal news reports for Colorado medical malpractice attorneys.