1 Hep C Infection At Audubon Surgery Associated With Parker

Updated by Marshall Zelinger, Johnray Stricklandm.zelinger@krdo.comFollow me on Twitter on www.twitter.com/mzelinger

DENVER – Kristen Parker,the former Audubon Surgery Center and Rose Medical Center surgical technician, is now positevly assocaited withgiving one patient at Audubon Surgery Center the Hepatitis Cinfection, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment website Friday.

Parker was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Denver andfaces 42 criminal counts. 21 of the counts are fortampering with a consumer product (the liquid pain medication Fentanyl),the other 21 counts are for obtaining Fentanyl by deceit. 19 of the 21 counts are related to patients who, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office have tested positive for Hepatitis C following a surgery at Rose Medical Center, on a day Parker worked. The 20th count is for the day Parker stuck a co-worker with a needle that was in her pocket. The 21st count is for the day Parker tested positive for Fentanyl at Rose Medical Center. None of the counts deal with any patients at Audubon Surgery Center.

While the U.S. Attorney’s Office reports 19 Hepatitis C positive patients, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environmentreports 14Hepatitis C positive patients, with one tied to the local Audubon Surgery Center.

“I still don’t know what the numbers(Friday) morning are going to look like, but it’s unlikely that the Rose number is going to be 19 by our count,” said Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Spokesman Mark Salley. “Our number’s might not agree with Rose’s numbers because Rose may get a positive and we don’t count it among our numbers until it’s referred to us from Rose and we interview the individual. That doesn’t mean Rose is wrong or that the U.S. Attorney is wrong, it just means that’s where we are in completing interviews and doing our own investigation.”

Parker was a surgery “scrub” technician at Rose Medical Center in Denver and then at Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs, where she assisted in surgical procedures. She had Hepatitis C while she worked at both facilities and is accused of stealing the powerful narcotic drug, Fentanyl, from surgical patients. In a June 30th interview with Denver Police, Parker admitted to injecting herself with a syringe containing the narcotic. She would then fill the same dirty syringe with saline and put it back on the surgical tray.

“At this point, I don’t really care what she’s going through because of the three weeks that I had to go through with my family,” said Audubon Surgery Center patient Jeremy Offutt.

Offutt had surgery on a day Parker worked at Audubon. He says his wife was escorted to his bedside by Parker.

“I can’t hold hatred or anger toward her.I’ll never get the chance to talk to her, so why at this point harbor hard feelings or hatred toward her,” said Offutt. “I”ll never get the chance to meet her, I’ll never get the chance to talk to her, ask her what was so bad in her life that she thought that she had to do this.”

Kristen Parker was originally charged in a three count Criminal Complaint in U.S. District Court in Denver on July 2, 2009. She made her initial appearance in federal court on July 6, 2009, where she was advised of the charges pending against her. On July 9, 2009, Parker waived her right to a preliminary hearing. She did, however, contest her detention. U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer found at that hearing that Parker was a danger to the community. He ordered her held without bond.

According to the indictment, between October 22, 2008, through April 15, 2009, Parker, with reckless disregard for the risk that another person will be placed in danger of bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk, tampered and attempted to tamper with consumer products, namely the removal of Fentanyl from a syringe, and replacing it with other substances. Further, the indictment alleges that she knowingly and intentionally obtained, and attempted to obtain, Fentanyl by deceit.

“I would like to reassure the victims of Kristen Parker that prosecuting this case is a priority, and that their interests will be well represented,” said Acting U.S. Attorney David Gaouette.

“The FDA Office of Criminal Investigations considers this illegal conduct very serious and is fully committed to investigating and supporting the prosecution of those who endanger the public health by tampering with medical products,” said Steve Holt, Special Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, Kansas City Field Office. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners and commend the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their diligence.”

“Diversion of pharmaceutical drugs is a concern for our communities and our country,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Sweetin. “The diversion of drugs in this case is all the more concerning, because medical patients were being denied the prescribed drugs they needed to control pain during surgery. The cooperation of medical professionals is critical for DEA and law enforcement to effectively do our job in these types of investigations. We applaud the cooperation Rose Medical Center has given our agents, which has allowed charges to be filed in this case.”

Parker faces not more than 10 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine for each count of tampering with a consumer product. If serious bodily injury occurred, she would face not more than 20 years in federal prison. If death of an individual occurs, she would face up to life imprisonment. If convicted of obtaining a controlled substance by deceit, or attempting to do the same, Parker faces not more than 4 years imprisonment, and up to a $250,000 fine for each count.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA OCI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Denver District Attorney’s Office, and the Denver Police Department.