Judge: Agency Could Have Stopped Exeter Hepatitis C Outbreak

A judge said a medical staffing agency could have stopped a hepatitis C outbreak that infected 32 Exeter Hospital patients.

The agency—the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists—was sued by several patients after prosecutors said a hepatitis C-positive worker injected himself with their medication to get high.

The worker, David Kwiatkowski, was certified by the radiologic group—making him eligible to work at hospitals across the country.

Prosecutors said in 2010, the group received a complaint that Kwiatkowski was abusing Fentanyl at an Arizona hospital. It was the same drug that he allegedly abused in Exeter.

Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Kenneth McHugh said the radiologic group failed to follow up on the complaint—allowing Kwiatkowski to continue his allegedly criminal abuse of drugs.

"Had ARRT conducted even the simplest of investigations of the Arizona incident it woud have been aware of specifically how Kwiatkowski could have and in fact did (spread his hepatitis C)," McHugh said in an order rejecting the group's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. "Clearly there was an opportunity for investigation and action."

You can read McHugh's complete order in the PDF above.

Kwiatkowski is currently sittng in jail. He faces 98 years in prison on a host of charges. Health officials said he may have infected a dozen more patients with his hepatitis C at hospitals across the country.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

• Exeter Hospital Worker Charged in Hepatitis C Disaster
• READ THE FILES: FBI Report on 'Serial Infector'