David Kwiatkowski, lab technician accused of spreading hep C, to plead guilty

GlobalPost

A US hospital technician accused of spreading hepatitis C will plead guilty to the allegations, according to court documents.

David Kwiatkowski agreed to the plea Monday in order to avoid criminal charges in three states. The deal would also see him receive a sentence between 30 and 40 years.

Kwiatkowski is accused of infecting dozens of people with the disease in New Hampshire, Kansas, Maryland and Georgia.

The traveling cardiac technologist, who has hepatitis C, stuck himself with syringes full of painkillers then used the tainted needles to inject saline into his victims.

One of the patients he targeted died of an infection linked to the disease. The plea agreement says that the illness played a "contributing role" in the patient's demise.

Kwiatkowski has admitted to police that he was diagnosed in 2010, but continued to use the tainted syringes.

He is said to have used the contaminated needles about 100 times.

According to the Daily News, 32 patients in New Hampshire, seven in Maryland, six in Kansas and one in Pennsylvania have been diagnosed with the strain of hepatitis C carried by Kwiatkowski.

He is accused of infecting patients at Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire, Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, the VA Medical Center in Baltimore and Hays Medical Center in Kansas.

Kwiatkowski grew up in Michigan and was a technician working for staffing agencies over short durations.

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