15 Hepatitis Infections Tied to Ex-Nurse

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15 Hepatitis Infections Tied to Ex-Nurse

Monday, Mar. 24, 2008 By AP/ALICIA A. CALDWELL

(EL PASO, Texas) — At least 15 military service members or their relatives are

believed to have been infected with hepatitis by a nurse suspected of stealing

their painkillers during surgery.

The nurse, retired Army captain Jon Dale , was arrested this month in Miami

on federal charges of assaulting three of those patients and possession of a

controlled substance by fraud.

Federal prosecutors said they believe spread the disease in 2004 during

surgeries at an El Paso military hospital by diverting fentanyl — a powerful

painkiller often used for anesthesia — from patients to himself.

The outbreak — and the nearly three-year-long criminal investigation that

followed — apparently did not prevent from continuing to work as nurse in

Texas and at least two other states and Washington, D.C.

, 45, has pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.

" We are confident that when everything comes out in court, he will be exonerated

and acquitted, " said Jim Darnell, the nurse's lawyer.

Details surrounding the case remain sketchy. It's not clear how allegedly

transmitted the potentially deadly disease to his patients or obtained the drugs

they were supposed to have received during surgery. has denied using dirty

needles.

Court records show the alleged victims include the son of a former Fort Bliss

commanding general, an active-duty soldier, the wife of a retired Marine Corps

gunnery sergeant and a retired Army chief warrant officer.

Staff Sgt. Ivan Westrick, 33, of El Paso, was one of those allegedly

infected with hepatitis C after a grenade blast claimed his left hand, lower arm

and part of his right hand.

Volk, an attorney representing Westrick and seven other infected

patients, has filed lawsuits against and the nursing agency that employed

him at the Army hospital, claiming the infections caused irreparable harm and

forced them to undergo extensive and aggressive medical treatments.

Volk declined to discuss the cases with The Associated Press and rejected

requests for interviews with his clients following a federal judge's decision to

put those lawsuits on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case against

.

Hepatitis C is a a blood-borne disease that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver

or liver cancer. It is treatable, but there is no cure. Symptoms vary but can

include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, pain and jaundice.

Court records show tested positive for hepatitis C after the outbreak was

discovered in October 2004. He was taken off the surgery unit but continued to

work elsewhere at Beaumont Army Medical Center as a civilian contract

employee until June 2005. Army officials, who declined to comment on the details

of the case, have said it's not clear whether he quit or was fired.

Bracken, an El Paso lawyer representing Columbia Health Care, one of two

contract companies worked for at the Army hospital, declined to comment on

the criminal and civil cases.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention linked to the outbreak

about a month after he left, saying he and infected patients shared the same

strain of hepatitis C, according to court records. The FBI launched its own

investigation a short time later.

then moved to Washington, D.C., where he was a nurse at town

University in August 2005, remaining there until he was fired in late 2006,

according to nne Worley, a town spokeswoman. She declined to say why

he was fired, but said the hospital is cooperating with investigators.

next turned up in Florida, where last year he opened his own

anesthesiology business, Anesthesia, LLC. He was living there when he was

indicted on Feb. 27 by a federal grand jury in El Paso on the assault and drug

charges.

It remains unclear how much, if anything, agencies that license nurses in states

where has worked were told about the CDC and FBI investigations.

The Texas Department of State Health Services was notified that tested

positive for hepatitis C and it, in turn, alerted the Texas Board of Nurses.

It does not appear, however, that disciplinary action was taken against ,

and his nursing license remained intact until he moved to Virginia. There also

was no record of complaints or discipline in other states.

El Paso FBI Special Agent in Charge Cuthbertson said CDC and Texas health

officials were aware of the outbreak before the criminal investigation began. It

was up to them to decide if others needed to be told about or a possible

public health risk, he said.

Experts said it is difficult to prevent a nurse, doctor or other health

professional under investigation in one state from moving to and practicing in

another.

Most state health agencies will not share complaint information with other

states before investigating the allegations internally, said Dr. Schufeldt,

a Phoenix emergency room physician and lawyer who handles malpractice cases.

" It would not be the first time and it probably won't be the last, " Schufeldt

said of health care workers who move while under scrutiny elsewhere. " But it

eventually catches up to them. "

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