Man Accused of Causing Hepatitis C Outbreak Worked in Maryland

A man accused of causing a hepatitis C outbreak in New Hampshire worked at four hospitals in Maryland, public health officials said.

The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Friday that David Kwiatkowski worked in the state from 2008 to 2010. Kwiatkowski has been infected with the hepatitis C virus since at least June 2010. Officials do not know if there is a potential risk to patients in Maryland.

The four hospitals are Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Southern Maryland Hospital, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Maryland General Hospital.

Officials said the hospitals will notify patients who underwent certain procedures with instructions on follow-up care.

The Johns Hopkins Hospital spokesman Gary Stephenson said Kwiatkowski worked in the cardiac catheterization lab there for six months starting in July 2009.

In announcing federal drug charges Thursday, U.S. Attorney John Kacavas called Kwiatkowski a “serial infector.” He's accused in New Hampshire of stealing anesthetic drugs from Exeter Hospital, injecting himself and contaminating syringes that were later used on patients. Thirty patients have been diagnosed with hepatitis C since the investigation began in mid-May.