Hospital Says It Will Comply with Hepatitis C Probe

Exeter Hospital officials said they will comply with a judge's order to give investigators access to medical records for a probe into a hepatitis C outbreak.

Exeter Hospital had fought the state Attorney General over the matter, arguing that allowing investigators to access medical records would violate patient privacy. The Attorney General's office argued it needs the record for the investigation..

In the end, a Merrimack County Superior Court judge sided with the state.

The outbreak was caused by a hospital employee who spread his hepatitis C to 32 patients by injecting himself with their medication to get high, according to prosecutors.

Investigators previously said they want to determine if anyone else was involved in the outbreak.

A copy of the judge's order can be found to the right under "PDFs."

Below is a news release issued by Exeter Hospital in response to the judge's order:

Exeter Hospital originally sought judicial guidance from the Court because of the potential conflict between the State's public health investigation and the privacy rights of our patients.

(The judge's) decision provides important guidance to both the hospital and the State, and will allow the hospital to further fulfill its obligations to the State's investigation and our patients. The Court pointed out that the State needs to follow very specific, CDC-sanctioned protocols in collecting data from Exeter Hospital's electronic medical record system and can only obtain the minimum amount of information necessary to complete its investigation.

The Court has also emphasized that the information collected by the State cannot be re-published which helps to protect the privacy of patients. Exeter Hospital supports the Court’s decision.

We remain confident that seeking judicial guidance was the right thing to do on behalf of our patients. This is a complicated matter which requires a delicate balance between the State's rights and the legal and moral requirements hospitals have to protect patient privacy.