David Kwiatkowski was a one-man
outbreak of hepatitis C. He had the virus
and was a travelling hospital worker who worked in hospitals in New Hampshire,
Arizona and Maryland. He was also a drug
addict. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 39 years in prison for knowing
he had hepatitis C, stealing hospital narcotics, injecting himself with drugs,
then placing the dirty, saline-filled syringes into circulation in multiple
hospitals. He infected at least 45 people with hepatitis.
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| David Kwiatkowski |
The Baltimore Sun reports that: The
case prompted hospitals to test hundreds of patients as potential victims and
led to efforts to tighten regulation of contract hospital workers. Kwiatkowski
knew he was infected with hepatitis C at the time and misled officials in
various states about past alcohol and drug problems.
Kwiatkowski
and his attorneys had asked for a sentence of 30 years in prison. The
prosecution asked for a 40-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to obtaining
controlled substances by fraud and tampering with a consumer product.
Laplante
said the defendant's conduct went beyond recklessness, verging on
"cruelty" or "hostility."
There are many forms of evil in
this world. There is evil by intentional
action and neglect. There is addiction.
There is disease. All those things converged
with Kwiatkowski, whose addiction fed an evil that led him to take actions he,
as a hospital worker, knew would lead to infecting others. Others who were incredibly vulnerable and
were coming to the hospital to seek help in their time of need. He got 39 years. He got what he deserved.
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