Hep C cases linked to NH hospital worker rise

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Five more people have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C a former traveling hospital worker is accused of spreading through tainted needles, bringing the total to 44 in four states.

David Kwiatkowski, whom prosecutors have called a “serial infector,” is charged with stealing painkillers from New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital and replacing them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his own blood. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 14 federal drug charges and has been in jail since his arrest in July.