‘Drug Addict’ Pleads Guilty to Infecting 36 Patients with Hepatitis C
DENVER
A surgery technician has pleaded guilty to charges of infecting 36 patients and exposing nearly 6,000 others to hepatitis C.
Kristen Diane Parker, 27, is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in prison for exposing patients at Rose Medical Center and Colorado Springs’ Audubon Surgery Center to the disease. Parker allegedly stole syringes filled with the painkiller Fentanyl and replaced the medication with saline. The dirty needles were then used on patients.
Parker pleads guilty to tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit or subterfuge, reports MSNBC.com. The former technician said she was a heroin user, and said that is likely how she contracted hepatitis C herself. Parker said she intended to replace the Fentanyl with saline in new syringes, but she got careless.
According to MSNBC.com, Parker was able to pass a drug-screening test at Rose Medical Center in 2008; however, she was notified by the hospital that she may have hepatitis C. Parker claims she did not know she had the disease.
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