Lab Tech, David Kwiatkowski, Sentenced To 39 Years For Infecting Patients With Hepatitis

David Kwiatkowski, a New Hampshire hospital lab technician, has been sentenced to 39 years in prison after pleading guilty to infecting numerous people with Hepatitis C. According to ABC News, Kwiatkowski pleaded guilty in August to infecting at least 46 people with Hepatitis C.

The report states Kwiatkowski, 34, a former lab technician at Exeter Hospital, admitted to “stealing syringes of the narcotic Fentanyl intended for patients, injecting the drug into his own arm, and then refilling those empty syringes with saline,” according to the United States Attorney’s Office in New Hampshire.

WHAS 11 reported that Kwiatkowski tested positive for Hepatitis C in June 2010, and passed the infection on to the hospital patients who were then injected with his used, saline-filled syringes.

Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News chief health and medical editor, spoke about the medical and moral implications of Kwiatkowski’s criminal behavior:

“If he knew that he was infected and he put those needles back on the shelf, that is the definition of evil. Anyone who was in those hospitals when he was working there is potentially at risk. We’re talking tens of thousands of people.”

The Inquisitr reported that a federal grand jury indicted the 33-year-old on seven counts of tampering with a consumer product and seven counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud. This may not have been the first time that David Kwiatkowski was caught for stealing and replacing syringes. According to ABC News, the plea agreement read that “Kwiatkowski had been fired or forced to quit for stealing and replacing syringes at least as far back 2008.”

The report mentioned two different incidents, one where Kwiatkowski was fired for stealing a Fentanyl syringe, and another where “a patient who received care from him on May 27, 2008, at the Baltimore hospital later tested positive for the same strain of Hepatitis C that Kwiatkowski has.”

Some believe that Kwiatkowski isn’t getting what he “deserves” for his actions. Just check out the twitter reactions:

@HuffingtonPost He looks old enough to get life. He ruined others for life! Fit for tat!

— Mycle A Brandy,JD (@WalkedUSA) December 2, 2013

@HuffingtonPost Now patients have to worry if their treatment has been tainted at hospitals? I’m disgusted.

— Madison Vartanian ? (@madisonmv) December 2, 2013

[Image via Shutterstock/Dabarti CGI]