Painkiller-addicted medical technician exposes patients to hepatitis C with dirty needles

Kristen Diane Parker (AP Photo/Denver County Sheriff)

We've got ourselves another Sick Fuck of the Week nominee.

I heard about this one a few days ago but somehow neglected to post the heartwarming tale.

A junkie who worked at an ambulatory surgery center exposed some 6,000 patients to hepatitis C with dirty saline-filled syringes she kept in her pocket to replace syringes filled with Fentanyl from operating carts when doctors and nurses weren't looking.

So this sick fuck was willing to risk getting caught stealing a narcotic and putting dirty syringes on operating carts, but she couldn't risk getting caught stealing clean syringes from a drawer or supply room in the center where she worked. WTF?

So far 10 cases of hepatitis C have been linked to the Rose Medical Center in Denver, Colorado, where 26-year-old Kristen Diane Parker worked as a medical technician until April. Hepatitis C, a virus spread through blood, is a treatable but incurable disease that can cause serious liver problems.

Denver police launched an investigation in April, and the state health department began its probe June 1 after former Rose surgery patients began testing positive for the disease. Parker was arrested June 30 on state drug charges.

Parker told a detective she stole 15 to 20 syringes of Fentanyl. "I knew my limit," she said, noting she took 100 to 250 micrograms of the drug--a synthetic opiate painkiller that is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine-- each time she used, enough medication for a 500-pound person.

She said she took the narcotic to cope with the stress of a custody battle with her ex-husband over her 2-year-old son, six-hour shifts on her feet, and back pain from moving patients around the operating rooms. (What is she going to take to cope with prison?) She claims that she had a problem with painkillers in the past and that she may have gotten hepatitis C when she used heroin last summer while living in New Jersey.

"She's going to take responsibility," her attorney said. (Um...for those who were once healthy and now have an incurable disease that could potentially end up killing them, no amount of "responsibility" will do, if you ask me.)

Whether or not Parker knew she was infected with hepatitis C will determine the criminal charges filed against her, police said. She reportedly tested positive before starting her job at Rose in October but failed to follow up when she got the results. People infected with hepatitis C can work in health services as long as standard precautions are taken, according to the CDC. Now she claims that hospital officials didn't make it clear (whatever that means) that she tested positive.

A federal magistrate judge declared her a danger to the community and ordered her held without bond, saying her actions showed significant disregard for the safety of others. Her next hearing is Oct. 6.

"She knew she had hepatitis C. She's a health care worker and she understands how this disease is spread," said Pat Criscito, 56, an author and freelance writer who had back and hand surgery at Rose last fall. She claims a positive result would've meant certain death because years of arthritis treatment have severely weakened her immune system.

"If I was going to die, she deserves life in prison. I can't understand how somebody can do that to another human being," said Criscito, who tested negative and is waiting for the results of a second test.

Health officials are trying to determine if the 10 hepatitis C cases are definitively linked to Parker. People with hepatitis C often don't know they're infected because they don't develop symptoms until years later.

Ugh, this is disgusting and wrong on sooo many levels...

Think about the patients who got nothing instead of the powerful painkiller they were supposed to get to cope with the very real, hardcore pain from a surgery or medical condition. While they suffered excruciating pain, Parker was drifting on a cloud of Fentanyl, easing her mild back pain, her tired feet and "coping" with her custody battle.

Sources: The Associated Press, CNN
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