Kristen Diane Parker may have exposed thousands to hepatitis

RaVen Blackehart · #1 July 3rd, 2009, 10:14 AM

Quote:

A former surgery technician may have exposed thousands of Colorado patients to hepatitis C when she swapped her own dirty syringes for ones filled with a powerful narcotic, federal authorities said Thursday.

Kristen Diane Parker faces criminal charges for allegedly making the swaps while working at Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center in Colorado Springs and Rose Medical Center in Denver.

Authorities say Parker admitted to changing out syringes containing a saline solution with ones filled with the painkiller Fentanyl. Parker injected herself with the drug, according to a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver.

An affidavit by Mary F. LaFrance, an investigator for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, says at least nine surgery patients at Rose have tested positive for hepatitis C, which is incurable. About 6,000 patients are being advised they may have been exposed and need to be tested.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne disease that can cause serious liver problems, including cirrhosis or liver cancer. The illness is treatable, but there is no cure. Symptoms can include nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, pain and jaundice.

Rose Medical Center officials told a news conference Thursday night they were working with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to determine whether Parker was the source of the virus.

It could not be determined Thursday night whether Parker had an attorney.

Parker worked at Rose from Oct. 21, 2008, until April. Hospital officials say she was suspended April 13, before they learned of the cases, and then fired. She had failed a drug test by testing positive for Fentanyl.

http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/722199.html

Persephonae · #2 July 3rd, 2009, 12:27 PM

god I hate junkies

Pete Bondurant · #3 July 3rd, 2009, 12:32 PM

Why aren't nurses and doctors regularly tested for drugs taking?

Persephonae · #4 July 3rd, 2009, 01:06 PM

generally they are, but not often enough. Most opiates and narcotics only stay in your system for under a week. Not to mention, there are ways around drug tests.

mysticviewer · #5 July 3rd, 2009, 01:11 PM

I was in recently for health issues and surgery.....this is the shit of my nightmares...fucking bitch was supposed to take care of her patients. She took care of herself instead and now people have to pay for her addiction.....this really pizzes me off.

DogMom · #6 July 3rd, 2009, 02:17 PM

Oh it really pisses me off too. As a former OR nurse, we were hell bent on using the strongest aseptic techniques every second of the job. I hope that woman is convicted and sent to prison.

And yes I believe nurses and doctors should be tested more often. We had an anesthesiologist who was a drug addict. He was turned in by a nurse because he intubated a patient in the stomach, not in the lungs.

eliz1bef · #7 July 3rd, 2009, 07:21 PM

How was she able to work in the health industry while suffering from Hepatitis C? They test food workers for it, don't they? Why wouldn't health care providers and practitioners get tested?

Not only did she steal their pain medication, allowing them to suffer while she got high, she gave them an incurable disease. This woman is evil.

She needs to be kept away from working with at risk populations, and when in prison, separated from the main population of the prison. People who knowingly infect others with disease should be subject to more aggressive criminal prosecution.

TheMorningStar · #8 July 4th, 2009, 06:40 PM

Kirsten Parker

petrina · #9 July 4th, 2009, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eliz1bef

How was she able to work in the health industry while suffering from Hepatitis C? They test food workers for it, don't they? Why wouldn't health care providers and practitioners get tested?

the hepatitis you get in a restaurant is hep A. totally different. hep A gets transmitted through injesting it. you get it, you pass it, and 95% of the population moves on. sorta like the flu. you dont keep it in your system.
you might be thinking of the practice of giving food workers the hep A (and hep B) vaccine so they DONT catch it and in turn pass it to customers.

hep C is transmitted through blood - so mostly by sex or needle sharing.

this site explains lots about the dif. types of hepatitis, including B, which also sucks big time.

http://menshealth.about.com/cs/diseases/a/hepatitis.htm

mysticviewer · #10 July 4th, 2009, 10:09 PM

Did she where that lip thing at work? I dont know.....I may be biased but she looks like she likes needles to me.

Unamused Cat · #11 July 7th, 2009, 02:28 PM

http://www.myspace.com/kris10_1227

Quote:

Well, I realized it's time to update this part cause losts has changed in my life. I had a really bad patch in my life which is getting better by the minute. I just moved out Colorado with my brother and we're back with our family again. I'm just getting my shit straight and trying to become a better person and learn from my mistakes. I have the most beautiful son on the face of the earth that I love more than life itself. I have the best family that has seen me go through alot of shit and are still by my side supporting me! I am a surgical technologist (I assist the surgeon during operations), just not at the moment. I love my job and actually miss not working in the operating rooms. Not too many people can say that! I have a VERY few good friends, that I am sooo fortunate are in my life. I like to tell everybody that I'm a pretty cool bitch, but I'm sure some would disagree....but fuck'em! My mouth tends to get me in trouble from time to time.... The whole describing myself....it's a waste of time, your just gonna check out my pics anyways, so it's pretty pointless. If there is anything you would like to find out about me.....fuckin ask! I don't bite!

DarkPrincess · #12 July 7th, 2009, 02:57 PM

Looks like somebody fell off the wagon. Too bad she took her patients with her.

sleepinwithangels · #13 July 7th, 2009, 05:18 PM

In my stupid teen years I was exposed to Hep C...luckily I didnt contract it I just was exposed to it so my body built antibodies in defense and now I will always test positive for it..

Scariest week of my life!

This woman should be charged with the murder of any person who dies as a result of their Hep. C Infection!

Tazzzz · #14 July 9th, 2009, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mysticviewer

Did she where that lip thing at work? I dont know.....I may be biased but she looks like she likes needles to me.

Hey great call on that one mystic, the she bitch says and I quote “I have a crazy fascination with needles.. I just like the way they feel!” , now thats creepy.

Quote:

According to the criminal complaint, Parker – a former heroin addict – admitted swapping her own dirty syringes filled with saline solution for syringes filled with Fentanyl, a narcotic 80 to 100 times stronger than morphine.

The drug is supposed to be used to help major post-surgery patients manage pain. Instead, they got no relief while Parker injected herself with the painkiller at home and in the hospital bathrooms before and after a surgery, according to the seven-page complaint.

“I know I (expletive deleted) up,” Parker told Denver Police Detective Dale Wallis after he confronted her during a videotaped interview on June 30. “I can’t take back what I did, but I will have to live with it for the rest of my life, and so does everybody else.”

She told Wallis she expects to spend the rest of her life in prison. She told the detective that she had used heroin from July 2008 to September 2008 while living in New Jersey. She said she had used dirty needles and “was 99.9 percent sure” that is how she was exposed to hepatitis C.

http://storyballoon.wordpress.com/20...o-hepatitis-c/

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Look how freakin huge my pupils are...god I was fucked up! x

Dakota Valkyrie · #15 July 24th, 2009, 10:02 AM

Quote:

The surgical technician at the center of a highly publicized health scare in three states was indicted Thursday with 42 felony counts of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit.

The grand jury indicted Kristen Diane Parker with 21 counts of tampering and 21 counts of obtaining an extremely powerful painkiller.
[...]

Gaouette also said there are now 19 Hepatitis C patients at Rose connected to Parker. A spokesman at the state health department could not confirm that number.

As of last Friday, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment only identified 11 patients at Rose who have tested positive for Hep C and who are "epidemiologically associated" to Parker.
[...]

Each of the 21 counts of tampering could bring up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted. Each of the 21 counts of obtaining a controlled substance could bring a four year prison term and identical $250,000 fine with a conviction.
[...]

Parker had already faced three federal charges of tampering with a consumer product, creating a counterfeit controlled substance, and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit and subterfuge.

A lifetime prison term is also possible if anyone dies as a result of Parker's alleged activities and only if she is convicted.
[...]

Prosecutors told a federal magistrate earlier this month that Rose staffers told Parker in October 2008 that she had hepatitis C.

Parker told the police detective in the recorded interview she never went to see her personal doctor to follow up.

"I guess it kind of got pushed down the list. At that time, I didn't have insurance. I had no symptoms. It never crossed my mind I might be sick. It's not like a dismissal but kind of like, 'Well, it's not that serious,'" Parker said. "I didn't know that this was going to happen. I mean, to the extent people would get sick for the rest of their lives because of me. And I can't take it back," Parker said, sobbing.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...69/detail.html

Just my luck sucks · #16 July 25th, 2009, 02:08 AM

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stori....72f3dfbe.html

Damn she worked in New York, Colorado and Houston too. 6,000+ people exposed? How fucking high was she? Why didn't anyone notice, that is a lot of shooting up.

Quote:

"I know I'm a good person. I know I'm a smart person. I just do stupid stuff," said Parker in an interview with Colorado police.

Just die Bitch.

malq · #17 July 25th, 2009, 02:15 AM

Fentanyl is awesome. I had a surgery and they blasted me with that shit. I see why people would do anything to get it.

Petrinas info on Hepatitis was informative and correct. A lot of confusion out there on hepatitis.

petrina · #18 July 25th, 2009, 02:56 AM

thanks malq.

and yes, hepatitis is way more confusing, potentially dangerous, and easy to catch than we think.

and sleepinwithangels, thanks for your post. whatever you did or didnt do when you were a teenager... know that everyone who reads this has risked exposure in one form or another.

jo_momma_82 · #19 July 25th, 2009, 03:38 AM

Speaking of fentanyl... I had never even heard of it until I had my youngest child and throughout the labor, my nurse seemed overzealous about me taking it. I did when the pain was too much and she would walk away w/ about 1/4 of it left in the needle... that wasn't the strangest part.

The weird part was that she was showing up every 15-30 minutes with a needle full prepared for me & when I would tell her that it wasn't necessary she, would put the needle back in her pocket and move along.... when I got my hospital bill, there was an insane amount of charges for fentanyl on it !!!! I only took 3-5 shots throughout my 24+ hr. labor !

p.s. she was the nicest nurse I've ever encountered... very happy ! LMAO

Dakota Valkyrie · #20 September 28th, 2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Kristen Diane Parker pleaded to five counts each of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled drug by deceit.

She now faces 20 years of jail time.

Parker had told investigators that she stole the powerful sedative fentanyl from surgery carts, used the syringes on herself, refilled them with saline and sometimes put the contaminated syringes back on the carts.

Federal prosecutors have said 35 patient infections could be attributed to Parker, while state health department records show 27 linked cases. The state says 16 of those positive cases have now been matched more definitively to Parker through lengthy DNA testing — a finding that prompted today's plea.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_13419377

SickenEd · #21 September 28th, 2009, 02:27 PM

What a selfish bitch. What, you're sick so you are going to take down as many ppl w/ you as you possibly can?? WTF kind of mentality is that?

badfish76 · #22 September 28th, 2009, 02:44 PM

This is a good example of how drugs make you not give a shit about anything or anyone.

My only question is, if she is a "good person" why didn't she use these needles and refill CLEAN ONES to replace on the cart???

I understand addiction and that it is a powerful monster but there were a lot of alternatives to KNOWINGLY endangering people that were sick and placing their utmost trust in her.

What a freakin' scum bag.

Looks like she wasn't doing so whoopie in her mug shot. Poor baby! NOT!