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A former hospital medical technician with hepatitis C has been criminally charged in federal court in New Hampshire based on accusations that he infected at least 30 patients with the blood disease by injecting himself with a potent anesthetic intended for patients and then replacing the drug with another liquid in the same contaminated syringe.

Defendant David Matthew Kwiatkowski told authorities he didn't know until recently that he has hepatitis C, but there is evidence that has had it since at least June 2010, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation press release. While authorities are investigating to determine whether other patients at other hospitals in other states may have been infected, the technician is charged with tampering with a consumer product and obtaining controlled substances by fraud.

For those in Denver, this is too similar to the Rose Hospital incident, see Hep C Surgical Nurse Sentenced. After the Rose incident, Colorado passed into law two measures. The laws require employers to report health care workers under suspicion to the state Department of Health within two weeks and to make information about a case available to the public, including future employers. But better tracking of criminal conduct by hospital employees is clearly an urgent need across the nation.

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