Follow-up on the "REGRETTABLE" post

Mayo Clinic worker in hepatitis case used patients’ syringes
An infected radiology tech injected himself at work; used syringes likely passed on the deadly disease.
Posted: August 25, 2010 - 4:40pm
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Hotline for Mayo patients

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By Jeremy Cox
At least three patients — possibly more — at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville were infected with hepatitis C after a medical worker injected himself with drugs they were supposed to get, Mayo executives said Wednesday.

One of the patients died from a case of hepatitis that was a genetic match of the worker’s infection, said Bill Rupp, CEO of the hospital and clinic. As for the two other matching cases, one person is still alive and the other died of an unrelated bout with cancer.

Many more patients over several years may have been infected, Rupp said, but might not know it because the virus is slow to cause symptoms.

A hot line has been set up for Mayo patients who want more information or want to be screened for hepatitis C. The number is [phone].

The employee was fired Tuesday, officials said, and the matter was reported to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

The Florida Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating.

Hepatitis is a virus that attacks the liver and, if left untreated, can lead to chronic hepatitis, which can cause liver failure, cirrhosis and cancer.

The case involves a radiology technologist who had been employed at Mayo’s Jacksonville campus for six years. It started in 2007, when Mayo officials noticed an increase in hepatitis C cases inside the hospital and began investigating the cause, Rupp said.

What they found was “profoundly disturbing,” said John Noseworthy, president and CEO of the entire Mayo organization, which also includes a clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and its flagship clinic in Rochester, Minn.

When no one was looking, the man injected himself with doses of a potent painkiller called Fentanyl, Mayo officials say. Afterward, he refilled the syringes with saline and switched out the needles.

But enough of the virus apparently lingered to infect another person, he added.

Mayo traced all the infections to an interventional radiology lab, where patients undergo procedures such as tissue biopsies and the insertion of tubes. In all, 23 employees were tested and one came back positive for hepatitis C.

The man was unaware he had the disease until the test, Rupp said.

The technologist was immediately removed from working with patients. He later admitted to diverting drugs, Mayo said.

Although all three of the infected patients were being hospitalized for transplants at the time they were in contact with the man, Rupp said he believes other kinds of patients may have been affected as well. Since none of the patients tested positive for hepatitis when they checked into the hospital, they probably acquired it as inpatients, he added.

Mayo declined to identify the employee. A spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office said she couldn’t look up the case without a case number, a suspect’s name or a victim’s name.

Eulinda Smith, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health, said the information will become public if state health officials bring an emergency suspension against the man’s license.

At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Mayo officials appeared visibly shaken. Noseworthy said the situation is a “tough reminder that one individual can circumvent all the checks and balances you put in place.”

Rupp said Mayo’s operation in Jacksonville will redouble its efforts to ensure that controlled substances don’t end up in the wrong hands.

In the meantime, he said, “Our staff is heartbroken about this broken trust.”

jeremy.***@****, [phone]"


My question is why didn't they charge that person with murder? Somebody died because he wanted to get high.

Diane

[portann]

Thanks, Diane. The details sound worse than I expected. And aside from this guy feeding his habit for so long, the patients weren't getting their pain meds. I wonder what the docs said to them? "Gee, kid, you can't be in pain and must be griping about nothing - we just gave you one of the strongest painkillers around. Shut up and go back to sleep."

He must have thought it a dream job, even if those patients howled in pain and the doctors wondered why.

And all this for several years, at the Mayo.

[meakea]

Soooo many questions...

I'm wondering if the hepatitis death occurred during the acute phase or if it was a particularly aggressive strain since the actual infection had to have occurred within the last 6 years.

Very sad...very very sad.  

[nygirl7]

It started in 2007, when Mayo officials noticed an increase in hepatitis C cases inside the hospital and began investigating the cause, Rupp said. "

Obviously they aren't telling the truth - three cases of HCV don't sound all that highly suspicious to me out of an entire hospital full of patients coming and going for all that time. And getting SO ill SO quickly like that? Man once these people start getting tested that number is going to skyrocket.

Fentanyl is bad bad sh*t - I remember learning about it years ago from the show ER, that is what Dr. John Carter got addicted to...he was injecting half into the patient and keeping half for himself or something like that........

Very upsetting story and probably not as uncommon as we think, not at all, if they used it as a plot device on tv it's probably been going on for YEARS and could be one reason people don't know where they got the disease from for sure - after all it wasn't even recognized until relatively recently.

[mikesimon]

My question is why didn't they just give him a lethal injection right then and there with one of the dirty syringes lying around.

[nygirl7]

Perfect answer as always.

[can-do-man]

" I remember learning about it years ago from the show ER, that is what Dr. John Carter got addicted to"


Marcus Welby would have never done that!!!

can it cando

[portann]

Thanks, Diane. The details sound worse than I expected. And aside from this guy feeding his habit for so long, the patients weren't getting their pain meds. I wonder what the docs said to them? "Gee, kid, you can't be in pain and must be griping about nothing - we just gave you one of the strongest painkillers around. Shut up and go back to sleep."

He must have thought it a dream job, even if those patients howled in pain and the doctors wondered why.

And all this for several years, at the Mayo.

[GoofyDad]

Marcus Welby would have never done that!!!


Maybe not. But don't tell me he wasn't getting the occaisional Lewinski from Consuelo after the last patient.

[spectda]

"Maybe not. But don't tell me he wasn't getting the occaisional Lewinski from Consuelo after the last patient."

I wonder if Dr Steve got to watch!

[GoofyDad]

Dr Steve was gay.

[spectda]

Goofy
perhaps it was Consuelo doing the watching after all!



Sorry Diane, the thread is quite serious and a very real and sad topic. I couldn't resist!

[portann]

Where is Diane, anyway? Getting the kids back to school?

[Anne1717]

Ya know - as a newcomer I find the humor therapeutic.   It is good to laugh and see jokes flying around.  I lost 2 sisters, one to cancer at 23 and the other to cystic fibrosis at 19.  They NEVER lost their ability to laugh and joke even at the worst of their trials.

Just about everyone in this forum has been or is sick with the HCV.  I am not but it is a tribute to you all to still find something to laugh about.

Keep it going

[Diane12855]

Kids are back in school and all is settled from the transition back to normal at home. I'm just feeling really antisocial these days. Don't know why.........

Diane