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Kwiatkowski Pleads Not Guilty In Hep C Case

The former Exeter Hospital employee at the center of a Hepatitis C outbreak pleaded ‘not-guilty’ in Federal court today.

Last week, a grand jury indicted David Kwiatkowski on 14 charges, including tampering with a consumer product and illegally obtaining controlled substances.

Prosecutors say the medical technician would steal syringes of pain medication, inject himself, and then reuse the needles on patients.

In Federal Court in Concord, the defendant offered one-word answers to a series of preliminary questions from the Judge. His court-appointed counsel entered not-guilty pleas for all charges.

Kwiatkowski also waived his right to a bail hearing. He’s been held in the Strafford County House of Corrections since July.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says it expects the trial to take three weeks. The trial date was set for February of next year, but will likely be pushed back by several months if not longer, because of the case’s complexity.

At least 32 patients at Exeter Hospital have tested positive for matching strains of Hepatitis C.  Before arriving in New Hampshire the suspect worked in seven other states, where several more patients have tested positive for the liver-destroying virus.

Todd started as a news correspondent with NHPR in 2009. He spent nearly a decade in the non-profit world, working with international development agencies and anti-poverty groups. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University.
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