A traveling medical technician was sentenced Monday to 39 years in prison for stealing painkillers and infecting dozens of patients in four U.S. states with hepatitis C through tainted syringes. David Kwiatkowski was a cardiac technologist in 18 hospitals in seven U.S. states before being hired at a New Hampshire hospital in 2011. He moved from job to job despite being fired at least four times over allegations of drug use and theft of painkillers. Since his arrest last year, 46 people have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C he carries. Kwiatkowski admitted stealing painkillers and replacing them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his blood. He pleaded guilty in August to 16 federal drug charges. Prosecutors sought the maximum 40-year prison sentence, saying he created a "national public-health crisis," put a significant number of people at risk, and caused substantial physical and emotional harm to a large number of victims. Thirty-two patients were infected in New Hampshire, seven in Maryland, six in Kansas, and one in Pennsylvania. Kwiatkowski also worked in four other states. Two of the 16 charges result from the case of a Kansas patient who has since died. Authorities said hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can cause liver disease and chronic health problems, played a contributing role in the death.
