Hepatitis C epidemic caused by a nurse at the hospital: CDC



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PUYALLUP, WA – A nurse from the Good Samaritan hospital who admitted to using narcotics for patients reportedly contributed to an outbreak of hepatitis C that infected at least 12 people, or even 30, according to the Center. Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The nurse, Cora Weberg, identified in the CDC report simply as "Nurse A", may have been infected herself on or about November 8, 2017, when she used narcotics intended for a female patient. with chronic hepatitis, the CDC said.

In May 2018, the Washington State Nursing Quality Assurance Commission suspended the Weberg Nursing License for a period of 18 months "due to a alleged diversion of controlled substances ".

In December 2018, an unidentified resident of Edgewood filed a lawsuit against Weberg and her nonprofit employer, MultiCare Health System, a Tacoma-based healthcare service provider for dozens of drug stores. health care in Puget Sound and in eastern Washington.

In the lawsuit, Weberg is accused of stealing the Applicant's "injection drugs" and simultaneously exposing him to needles stained by hepatitis C. MultiCare is accused of knowing the drugs administered to victims of abuse, but to do nothing to prevent it.

The charges refer to a visit to the Good Samaritan's emergency room in December 2017 as a result of a car accident involving the complainant, which the CDC only identified as a woman in the fifties.

Multicare and Weberg are co-accused with another person – who was also involved in the car accident – and the company for which this person works.

In the end, it appears that the plaintiff's claim seeks redress for the damages caused by the injuries caused by the car accident and subsequent medical care inflicted upon Weberg, which would have given the plaintiff the Hepatitis C.

With regard to the Weberg epidemic, the CDC stated that it was in use at Good Samaritan when nearly 3,000 patients received injectable drugs between August 4, 2017 and March 23, 2018, although that Ms. Weberg herself did not necessarily provide direct care to each patient.

In April 2018, Good Samaritan sent letters to the 2,762 live patients receiving injectable drugs while Weberg was on duty, including the 208 patients directly treated by Weberg, the CDC said. The letters informed patients of possible exposure to hepatitis C and offered free tests.

As of November 1, 2018, approximately 67% of the 2,700 or more patients had been tested, including 84% of patients treated directly by Weberg. Of these 84% (175 people), 20 people were tested positive for hepatitis C, of ​​which 13 had a genotype of hepatitis C similar to that found in Weberg.

Of these 13 patients, 12 received injectable drugs from Weberg between November 22 and December 26, 2017. The last patient would be the Zero Patient – the person from whom Weberg initially contracted Hepatitis C on November 8, 2017. visit to the good Samaritan.

All HIV-positive patients for hepatitis C since the beginning of the investigation would now receive care for their respective infections. However, 33 patients have not yet been tested.

The lawsuits against Weberg, MultiCare and the other two entities will be heard on December 12, 2019.

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