A Kansas woman has filed suit against a Pittburgh hospital where a former medical technician had worked. The former medical technician has been accused of stealing narcotics from that hospital and is also facing federal drug charges in New Hampshire. He has pled not guilty to stealing drugs and tampering with needles. However, the man went on to work at a number of other hospitals, including one in Kansas where the 80-year old woman believes he exposed her to hepatitis C.

The lawsuit alleges that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center was negligent for not reporting the alleged theft and use of narcotics by this medical worker to law enforcement or any other government agency. This negligence allowed him to go on to employment at other hospitals. The plaintiff in the case now carries a strain of hepatitis C very similar to the one the medical worker carries, which will require treatment and medication for the rest of her life.

This case raises an important question: are employers responsible for the harmful actions of their employees? If this medical worker had been stealing narcotics and tampering with needles, effectively voiding any type of sterility, resulting in the transmission of a blood-borne pathogen, and his employer knew that, and knew the risks he would pose to others if that activity continued, ought they to have reported him?

Cases of personal injury due to negligence, especially those related to the medical field that may not specifically be medical malpractice, can be challenging, as proving where the negligence originated or ended can be difficult to prove. However, this case shows that the medical worker went on to work in other hospitals across the United States, and there is a chance other people have been infected and don’t know it yet. They are not responsible for their illness or their exposure to it, rather the medical worker and the overall negligence of his employers contributed to their infection.

Source: Associated Press, “Kansas woman files hepatitis C lawsuit against Pittsburgh hospital, alleges negligence,” Kevin Begos, Sep. 4, 2012

• Our firm handles cases of personal injury due to negligence and medical malpractice like the one discussed in this post. For more information, visit our Erie personal injury lawyer page.