Politics & Government

Hepatitis C Lawsuits Piling Up for Exeter Hospital

One class-action suit has 44 plaintiffs.

More than a half-dozen lawsuits are in the works for patients involved in a hepatitis C outbreak at .

The largest one so far is a class-action lawsuit involving 44 plaintiffs. It's being prepared by Peter McGrath, a Concord-based attorney who's a former federal prosecutor. McGrath said more plaintiffs will likely be added.

Separate suits by the following individuals have also been filed in Rockingham County Superior Court, according to the Union Leader:

Find out what's happening in Exeterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • An Exeter woman
  • A Newmarket woman
  • Doris Ayer, 83, of Danville
  • Donald Page, 49, of Manchester 
  • David and Carole Porter, 69, of Danville

The hepatitis C outbreak – which state health officials said was likely caused by a – has infected 20 patients so far. Officials said that total will rise as test results on hundreds of patients come back.

Exeter Hospital officials have declined to comment on if the hospital is prepared to deal with the lawsuits.

Find out what's happening in Exeterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In terms of scale, the largest hepatitis C outbreak in U.S. history occurred in 2008 at a medical center in Nevada. More than 100 people were infected with the disease and at least one died. Victims successfully sued the medical center and drug companies for more than $500 million dollars in damages. It was the largest settlement of its kind.

An Exeter lawmaker recently plans to file legislation designed to prevent future outbreaks in New Hampshire.


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