A class-action lawsuit is being filed against Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire by a law firm representing a patient who claims to have been infected with hepatitis C by a former radiologic technologist (RT) working at the facility.
McGrath Law Firm said it is planning to file the litigation on behalf of a former patient of the hospital who contracted hepatitis C after the technologist, David Kwiatkowski, allegedly contaminated supplies used in intravenous care with the hepatitis C virus. At least 20 patients are believed to have been infected.
Kwiatkowksi was arrested in July on charges of stealing fentanyl for his own use and putting contaminated syringes back into the hospital's supplies. He is also suspected of infecting patients in other states where he worked as a traveling RT at cardiac catheterization labs.
The law firm is charging that Exeter Hospital failed to take proper maintenance, oversight, and control of its cardiac cath lab, and that the infections should have been prevented by the hospital.
The firm noted that in the state of New Hampshire, before anyone may proceed with a civil medical malpractice lawsuit, the complainant must appear before a screening panel to review the case under reforms implemented in 2007. The litigation can go forward with the approval of the panel.
