CDC 07-09-09

COLORADO: "Hepatitis C Falls Under US Disability Law"

Denver Post (07.08.09):: Michael Booth
In the wake of the developing case of a Colorado surgical technician charged
with stealing drugs in a scheme that potentially exposed thousands of patients
to hepatitis C, some observers are asking why anyone with the virus was allowed
to work in a hospital operating room. The technician's employer, Denver's Rose
Medical Center, was aware she had hepatitis C.
In fact, however, the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act was crafted in part
to protect the rights of such employees. Health officials said the technician's
hepatitis C infection should not have affected her ability to perform her job
duties.
"We don't recommend any kind of categorical restriction just because of
hepatitis C," said Arjun Srinivasan, a medical epidemiologist with CDC. "What we
have seen is that good infection-control practices are effective in preventing
transmission of hepatitis C and scores of other diseases to patients."

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COLORADO: "Hepatitis C Victims May Sue"

Denver Post (07.08.09):: Jason Blevins; Jennifer Brown
Attorneys report they are beginning to hear from persons interested in pursuing
their legal options after potentially being exposed to hepatitis C at two
Colorado medical facilities. An infected surgical technician is accused of
stealing syringes filled with the painkiller Fentanyl, then replacing them with
saline-filled syringes she had previously used to inject the drug into herself.
As a result, up to 5,700 surgical patients at Rose Medical Center in Denver and
Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs may have been exposed to hepatitis C.
On Tuesday, the state health department linked a 10th hepatitis infection to
surgery at Rose, but the latest case is not among patients tested since the
matter was made public last Thursday. Rather, the case was confirmed from a
prior test submitted to the state health department, said Ned Calonge,
Colorado's chief medical officer. The 10 cases so far have been linked only
through patient interviews, not genetic sequencing, for which Colorado is
seeking CDC's assistance.
Similar cases of drug theft and patient infection have occurred at other US
hospitals, leading to the creation of elaborate safeguards. Some hospitals
require signatures for each syringe dispensed, or the use of single-use needles,
said Jim Leventhal, a Denver attorney. "There are dozens of different
precautions that should have been in place and apparently were not in place that
would have prevented this from happening," he said.
Lawyers expect to scrutinize the pre-employment screening performed by both
facilities where the technician worked. Officials at Rose were aware the woman
had hepatitis C. "Did they ever wonder why she had hepatitis C? I mean, look at
her MySpace page, where she said she had a fascination with needles," Leventhal
said.