Prosecutors obtained a guilty plea from Kristen Diane Parker on Friday in a Colorado Federal Court. Parker was a surgical technician who has infected at least 27 people with Hepatitis C and possibly exposed thousands more. The Kristen Diane Parker Guilty Plea for hepatitis infections will land her behind bars for up to 20 years. Hepatitis C is an incurable liver disease, and was spread when Parker would use patients syringes on herself to feed her drug habit and then inject patients with used syringes filled with saline solution.
The charges against Parker were filed in Federal Court. She was originally charged with 42 separate counts stemming from her actions. She plead guilty to 10 different counts, 5 counts each of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining controlled substance by deceit or subterfuge. The remaining charges filed against Parker were dropped by prosecutors as part of the plea deal.
You can read more about this story here and here. KKTV in Denver is reporting that Parker has been handed a 20 year sentence. It doesn’t sound long enough to me, especially considering that Hepatitis C is incurable and those patients infected by Parker will suffer for the rest of their lives.
Some of the alleged victims are unhappy with the plea deal and would have liked to see a harsher sentence. I have a hard time disagreeing with them. This guilty plea does not end the legal struggle in this case because the victims are weighing their options on holding the hospitals where Parker worked liable for their infections. This is a case where I think that such a suit would be justified. These victims were seeking treatment for various ailments and instead of making a full recovery they leave the hospital with an incurable disease. I’m not the most sympathetic guy at times, but this is a case where it is warranted.
Parker worked at two different hospitals in Colorado. The first was a Denver area hospital, Rose Medical Center and the second was the the Audubon Surgery Center which is located in Colorado Springs. I can’t imagine what these victims are feeling right now.
In short, the Kristen Diane Parker Guilty Plea For Hepatitis Infections in a Colorado Federal Court will require Parker to serve prison time, up to 20 years, but if prosecutors had obtained a conviction on the most serious charges she could have spent the rest of her life behind bars. Hopefully the victims in this case are able to obtain the necessary care to treat the disease. What do you all think should have happened to Parker for her actions? I think a lifetime sentence wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing in this case, but that’s just me. What do you think?
September 26th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
how did she infect people with hepatitis C? simply working around them shouldn’t do it unless there was actual mixing of bloods somehow.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Brian-
From the story: “Hepatitis C is an incurable liver disease, and was spread when Parker would use patients syringes on herself to feed her drug habit and then inject patients with used syringes filled with saline solution.”
That’s how she infected people.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
that sounds just so insanely insane, beyond simple or complex desparation, its just hard to fathom. The risks are huge for her as well.
January 29th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
this so called woman has runined my life.. i was a patentint of her at the Audubon Surgery Center. granted i was lucky enough not to be infected but she has now made me scared to go to any hosptial or get blood drawin or anything else i have been treated so badly by thous who know that i had to get tested. i get looked at like i was a walking disease and no one would come around or even touch the same thing as me.. she needs to be in persion for the rest of her life.. i wish that i could make her go thou what we have all gone thou and make her suffer for what she has done…