Kwiatkowski Set To Plead Guilty In Hepatitis C Outbreak Case
CONCORD, N.H. (CBS/AP) — A hospital technician accused of causing a multi-state outbreak of hepatitis C last year is set to plead guilty in New Hampshire federal court in exchange for a prison term of 30 to 40 years.
A plea agreement filed Monday states the deal would allow David Kwiatkowski to avoid criminal charges in Kansas, Maryland and Georgia.
Kwiatkowski is accused of injecting himself with the painkiller fentanyl using stolen syringes, then replacing the drug with saline before the tainted syringes were used to treat patients.
The plea deal states dozens of patients were infected and hepatitis C genetically linked to Kwiatkowski's strain played a "contributing role" in one Kansas patient's death.
The agreement states the traveling cardiac technologist will plead guilty to seven counts each of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining controlled substances by fraud.
Kwiatkowski was working at Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization laboratory at the time of his arrest. Nearly three dozen Exeter Hospital patients were found to be infected with the same strain of hepatitis C that Kwiatkowski carries.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
