Medical assistant charged in hep C case

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CONCORD, N.H., Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A medical technician has been charged in New Hampshire for a hepatitis C outbreak that infected more than 30 patients at a hospital, officials said.

A federal grand jury indicted David Kwiatkowski, a 33-year-old former radiology tech, on seven counts of tampering with a consumer product and seven counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, Tribune Newspapers reported.

Prosecutors alleged Kwiatkowski, who is infected with hepatitis C, stole syringes from Exeter Hospital, used them on himself and then placed them for use on patients.

Kwiatkowski faces a possible 98 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The news report said Kwiatkowski worked as a lab technician at a number of other hospitals across the country.

A hospital in Pittsburgh where Kwiatkowski previously worked has sent letters to 2,000 patients warning he might have infected them with hepatitis C, and four hospitals in Maryland are testing 1,700 patients for the infection.