Tech May Have Exposed Thousands to Hep C

This is an email that I thought was important enough to send to most everyone in my address book. My jokelist, my info list, my "professional" list, etc. as this is another good example of why Hepatitis C is "everyone's" disease and if you are a friend of mine or receive my emails for any reason I would hope that by now you have gotten tested and KNOW YOUR HEPATITIS C STATUS. Don't take it for "granted"

If you haven't been tested - PLEASE DO SO!

This is sadly NOT an unusual situation and over the years I have posted many stories about Hepatitis C being passed at pain clinics, MD offices, dentists, endoscopy clinics, tattoo shops, beauty parlors and barber shops, just a variety of ways that blood to blood transmission can occur and "you" are not even aware.

PLEASE get vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B and GET TESTED for Hepatitis C!

Please ask your doctors why they aren't testing!
Please ask your news reporters why they aren't reporting about this silent epidemic!
Please ask your elected officials why they aren't doing more to fund programs for hepatitis C or to bring education and awareness to the general public!

Please tell 12 other people to GET TESTED for Hepatitis C!

Some form of Hepatitis affects 1 in 12 people in the world. Are YOU number 12? www.aminumber12.org Pretty staggering statistic!

Hepatitis C patients outnumber HIV patients about 5 to 1 in the United States. Do YOU really know anything about hepatitis C? Please educate yourselves and your loved ones.
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Tech May Have Exposed Thousands to Hep C

Woman Faces Criminal Charges for Swapping Her Own Dirty Syringes for Ones With Narcotic

AP) A former surgery technician may have exposed thousands of Colorado patients to hepatitis C when she swapped her own dirty syringes for ones filled with a powerful narcotic, federal authorities said Thursday.

Kristen Diane Parker faces criminal charges for allegedly making the swaps while working at Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs and Rose Medical Center in Denver.

Authorities say Parker admitted to changing out syringes containing a saline solution with ones filled with the painkiller Fentanyl. Parker injected herself with the drug, according to a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver.

An affidavit by Mary F. LaFrance, an investigator for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, says at least nine surgery patients at Rose have tested positive for hepatitis C, which is incurable. About 6,000 patients are being advised they may have been exposed and need to be tested.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne disease that can cause serious liver problems, including cirrhosis or liver cancer. The illness is treatable, but there is no cure. Symptoms can include nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, pain and jaundice.

Rose Medical Center officials told a news conference Thursday night they were working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to determine whether Parker was the source of the virus. It could not be determined Thursday night whether Parker had an attorney.

Parker worked at Rose from Oct. 21, 2008, until April. Hospital officials say she was suspended April 13, before they learned of the cases, and then fired. She had failed a drug test by testing positive for Fentanyl.

Parker went to work for the Audubon surgery center shortly after being fired. She worked there from May 4 until Monday, Dr. J. Michael Hall, Audubon's medical director, told The Gazette in Colorado Springs.

If convicted of tampering with a consumer product and other charges, she faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine on the most serious charge of tampering.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/03/health/main5132012.shtml
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Hepatitis C Under Diagnosed
Early Treatment Is Crucial

Steve Saunders, 7NEWS Anchor

DENVER -- The hepatitis C scare at Rose Medical Center has raised the profile of a disease that doctors say is under reported.

It is estimated that two percent of the population has the virus.

Steve Piper was diagnosed with the disease seven years ago. He believes he was infected with the virus as a teenager when he experimented with drugs.

He has since had liver cancer and a liver transplant, but is now doing well.

“It’s not a death sentence,” he said. “It’s a disease that is manageable, but you have to know that you have it.”

Dr. Gregory Everson of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center specializes in liver disease and hepatitis C.

“It’s important not to bury your head in the sand,” he told 7NEWS.

About half the people with chronic hepatitis C respond to treatment. If that treatment begins early, patients have a much better outcome.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/education/19943374/detail.html
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Hospital worker may have exposed patients to Hepatitis C

DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- A former hospital employee may have exposed hundreds, or even thousands, of surgical patients to hepatitis C after taking their fentanyl injections and replacing them with used syringes filled with saline solution, authorities say.

Kristen Diane Parker, who worked at Rose Medical Center in Denver, has admitted to secretly injecting herself in a bathroom and using unclean syringes as replacements for patients, investigators say.

She had hepatitis C, which she believes she contracted through using heroin and sharing dirty needles while she lived in New Jersey in 2008, authorities say.

She was a surgical technician at Rose from October 2008 to April 2009.

Nine patients who had surgery there during that time have tested positive for hepatitis C. Investigators are looking into whether they contracted the virus from Parker.

According to an affidavit filed by an investigator with the Food and Drug Administration, Rose Medical Center knew Parker tested positive for hepatitis C. She was counseled on how to limit her exposure to patients.

Parker quit after she was found in an operating room where she was not allowed to be. She subsequently tested positive for fentanyl. Hospital officials then contacted the DEA.
Parker is in federal custody facing three drug-related charges. If she is found to have done serious harm to a patient, she could face up to 20 years in prison. If a patient dies due to her actions, she could face life in prison.

In a statement to police, Parker said, "I can't take back what I did, but I will have to live with it for the rest of my life, and so does everyone else."

Her attorney could not be reached Friday.

Rose Medical Center is contacting 4,700 patients who had surgery at Rose during the time Parker was employed there. However, hospital officials do not believe that that many patients were exposed.

"We are taking a very conservative and cautious approach by contacting everyone who had surgery during this broad time period," a statement on the hospital's Web site states. "It is likely that most of the patients who receive letters will not have been exposed to hepatitis C."
Another 1,200 patients may have been infected between May 4, 2009, and July 1, 2009, when Parker worked at Audubon Ambulatory Surgical Center in Colorado Springs. Audubon is also contacting patients.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis or liver cancer.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/07/03/hospital.employee.arrest/
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Questions mount about Hepatitis C as more details are released

Story By: John RomeroSource: KOAA

Thousands across the state may have been exposed to hepatitis c through alleged needle swapping by surgical tech Kristen Parker.

Dr. Donna Lanacone says out of all three types of hepatitis, C is by far the most serious and dangerous. “Hepatitis C is a virus that attacks the liver often silently.” she says, “The big difference is the fatality is higher and there is no vaccine.”

This silent killer can come without any symptoms at all and may not show for a number of years. “Most of the time there are no symptoms for 10-20 years.” explains Dr. Lanacone, “Some early symptoms you might see are low grade fever, fatigue, yellowing of the skin, which is called jaundice, abdominal pain, and some nausea and vomiting.” Hepatitis C can lead to cirrhosis, which is a scarring of the liver and is potentially fatal. It can also lead to liver cancer.

The virus that causes hepatitis c can be present for hours in blood even once it's dried. So it's a lot easier to catch than other blood-borne illnesses making testing that much more important.

“You should definitely get tested if there's any possibility of exposure to hepatitis c.” says Dr. Lanacone, “You do want to catch it as soon as you can. If you take the medications early enough can prevent some the of life threatening complications of hepatitis c.”

Both the Audubon Center and Rose Medical Center have set up free, confidential testing programs for patients who believe they may have been exposed. They say testing is not necessary for HIV or hepatitis b.

Audubon will begin sending letters to patients on July 6th, you can contact them at (719) 571-4440. If you have questions about contamination at Rose Medical Center, call the patient care line at (303) 329-7500.

http://www.koaa.com/aaaa_top_stories/x1974617906/Questions-mount-about-hepatitis-c-as-more-details-are-released

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