Hepatitis C scare could affect hundreds of patients

July 30, 2012

Health officials here in Arizona are urging hundreds of people to seek testing for hepatitis C. As KJZZ's Mark Moran reports, patients at hospitals in the city could have been exposed.

Health officials are warning almost 300 people who were treated at two Phoenix hospitals that they may have been exposed to hepatitis C. A lab technician who was described by federal officials as a serial infector in New Hampshire until recently worked here in Arizona in 2009 and 2010.

David Kwiatkowski was accused of injecting himself with a powerful anesthetic, fentanyl, then refilling the syringes with saline. Officials are recommending that patients of the two Phoenix hospitals -- Arizona Heart Hospital and Maryvale Hospital -- be tested for hepatitis C as a precautionary measure.