Trial Dates Scheduled for Exeter Hepatitis C Lawsuits

The first of dozens of lawsuits against Exeter Hospital and several staffing agencies for a hepatitis C outbreak is set for a trial late next year.

Exeter Hospital and several medical staffing agencies are facing 26 lawsuits after prosecutors said 32 patients contracted hepatitis C from a hospital worker who stole powerful narcotics to get high.

Lawyers gathered at Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood Friday to coordinate the cases, according to the Associated Press. The first lawsuit case is scheduled for trial in November 2014, the AP reported.

Many of the cases could be settled before that time.

Some of the staffing agencies facing lawsuits include Nebraska-based Triage Staffing and the Minnesota-based American Registry of Radiology Technologists. Attorneys have claimed those agenices placed Kwiatkowski at hospitals across the country and share some of the blame.

Prosecutors said the hepatitis C outbreak was caused by 33-year-old David Kwiatkowski, who's currently sitting in jail on fraud and tampering charges. He faces up to 98 years in jail and $3.5 million in fines. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors said Kwiatkowski, who has hepatitis C, shot himself up with narcotics meant for patients in Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory. He would then refill the needles with a saline solution to make it appear they were untouched—but the tainted needles were used on unsuspecting patients, according to prosecutors.

Exeter Hospital officials haven't commented on the lawsuits themselves. They recently released the following statement:

The hospital’s focus has been and continues to be the care of our patients through the difficulty caused by the alleged criminal acts of ex-hospital employee David Kwiatkowski. We will maintain this focus even as the legal process progresses. 

Kwiatkowski was a "traveler" who was placed at hospitals all across the country by staffing agenices. He also spread his hepatitis C to about a dozen other patients at those hospitals before he came to Exeter, health officials said.

He could face additional charges in state like Maryland.

Hepatitis C is a potentially deadly liver disease. Many of the 32 Exeter patients who contracted it have pre-existing conditions, complicating their ability to fight the disease.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

• Exeter Hospital Worker Charged in Hepatitis C Disaster
• FBI: Dave Kwiatkowski Knew He Had Hepatitis C
• 'Serial Infector' Was 'The Ultimate Con Artist'
• READ THE FILES: FBI Report on 'Serial Infector'

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