Hospital Worker Held In Hepatitis C Investigation

DENVER (AP) – Federal agents in Colorado have arrested a former surgery technician accused of exposing up to 6,000 people to hepatitis C by injecting herself with painkillers meant for hospital patients, then filling the used syringes with saline solution.

Kristen Diane Parker appeared in court Monday to be advised of the charges against her, which include product tampering and other violations.

Authorities say thousands of patients at two hospitals were injected with the used syringes when medical personnel thought they were administering painkillers.

Officials say Parker worked at Rose Medical Center in Denver until she was fired after testing positive for the painkiller Fentyl. She then went to work for the Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs.

Authorities say nine patients at Rose tested positive for hepatitis C.