Public Health officials have announced that approximately 6,000 more patients of Exeter Hospital need to be tested for Hepatitis C. Anyone who had inpatient surgery or treatment in the ICU between April, 2011 and May, 2012 are encouraged to attend a testing clinic at Exeter High School this weekend.
Last week, 32-year old David Kwiatkowski was charged with stealing syringes of pain medication before reusing them on patients in the Cardiac Catheterization Lab, where we has employed as a medical technician.
But Jose Montero, the state’s director of Public Health, says there’s evidence that Kwiatkowski may have interacted with patients in other parts of the hospital.
"We do believe that the person may have had access to those particular areas, and that’s why, in what we call hear an overabundance of caution, we are expanding the testing to those areas."
So far, 30 patients have tested positive for matching strains of Hepatitis C.
Before arriving in New Hampshire, Kwiatkowski worked in at least seven other states where investigations are continuing.
