Hospital tech may have spread hepatitis C

DENVER, July 17 (UPI) -- Investigators are trying to determine if a hospital technician who may have spread hepatitis C in Colorado did the same thing when she worked in New York.

Kristen Parker, who was a surgical technician at Rose Medical Center, told Denver police she stole syringes containing the painkiller Fentanyl, injected herself with the drug and then refilled the syringes with saline solution to hide the theft, KMGH-TV, Denver, reported. Parker, infected with hepatitis C, risked spreading the disease to patients, officials said.

In late 2007 and early 2008, Parker worked at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. Health officials there told 7NEWS Wednesday 2,800 patients treated at the hospital have been warned they might have been infected.

In 2005 and 2006, Parker worked at Christus St. John Hospital in Houston.

She told police she believes she became infected with hepatitis during a period of heroin use after she was fired from the Westchester hospital.

Parker faces federal drug charges and a long prison sentence if convicted.

At one point during a June 30 interview with police, she began crying.

"I didn't know that this was going to happen. I mean, to the extent people would get sick for the rest of their lives because of me. And I can't take it back," she said. "Now, I've got to live with what I did for the rest of my life, and so does everybody else."