Hepatitis

A patient believed to have contracted hepatitis C from a rogue medical worker has sued Columbia-based Maxim Staffing Solutions Inc. for failing to report the traveling technician to legal authorities even though the company knew he had stolen narcotics and put patients at risk. The lawsuit, filed by Kansas resident Linda Ficken and her husband, William, says that Maxim was one of three medical institutions that enabled worker David Kwiatkowski's illicit behavior. The institutions' inaction allowed him to repeat his behavior for four more years at hospitals around the country, where he came in contact with thousands of patients, the lawsuit claims.

All baby boomers should get tested for hepatitis C, the virus that can lead to liver disease, cancer and death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . One in 30 boomers is infected and most don't know -- read about that in this Sun's story on hep C . In making the recommendation, CDC officials believe raising awareness and testing will avert more disease and deaths. It's now the fastest-rising cause of cancer-related deaths and a leading cause of liver transplants.)

Four Maryland hospitals are offering free hepatitis C testing to at least 1,750 patients who may have been exposed to the viral disease by a traveling medical technician, as state officials launch a broad regulatory review in response to the case. The testing and review follow the arrest of David Matthew Kwiatkowski in New Hampshire last month. Authorities say he injected himself with stolen narcotics-filled syringes while working at a hospital there and left the contaminated needles to be re-used by unwitting staff in patients, infecting at least 30 people.

Four Maryland hospitals will be contacting patients who might have come in contact with a health care worker infected with hepatitis C when he worked in the state between 2008 and 2010, according to the state health department. David Matthew Kwiatkowski, 32, who worked as a health technician, was arrested Thursday in New Hampshire, according to a statement on the FBI website. He was charged with illegally obtaining Fentanyl, a powerful anesthetic, and with infecting at least 30 people with hepatitis C at Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire, the FBI said.

When Alan Shackelford's ankles would swell up, he brushed it off as another sign of getting older — only to find out it was a symptom of something much worse. The 59-year-old Windsor Mill man was shocked when his doctor recently diagnosed him with hepatitis C. Even more disturbing to the IT specialist at Johns Hopkins University was that he had probably been living with the disease for years. "I was completely freaked out that this had happened to me and I probably had this for 35 to 40 years," Shackelford said.

Hepatitis C has long been a problem with a low rate of cure. But new drug therapies are in use and others are on the horizon, according to Dr. Paul J. Thuluvath, chief of gastroenterology at Mercy Medical Center and the medical director of the Institute for Digestive Health & Liver Disease at Mercy. That has meant better liver health for millions in this country and around the globe. What is hepatitis C and what causes it? Hepatitis C (HCV) is a virus that causes liver disease in a significant number of the U.S. and world population.

If Phillip Tharrington hadn't been caught attempting to rob a Rockville store in 2005, he might never have gotten treatment for an HIV infection he had ignored for years. The 47-year-old said he was persuaded to get care after being sent to the Maryland Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, where officials have been striving to identify and treat the disproportionate number of prisoners who arrive with chronic conditions such as HIV and hepatitis-C infections and diabetes. State data suggest there are now more healthy prisoners like Tharrington among the 26,000 incarcerated in Maryland facilities — and that's good public policy, officials say. More diseases are being controlled and fewer costly hospital trips are needed, making the system more efficient.

Hepatitis C is chronic inflammation of the liver caused by a virus. Almost 2 percent of the population in the United States is infected with hepatitis C, and the incidence is much higher - closer to 5 percent - in the veteran population, says Dr. Sandeep Khurana, director of clinical hepatology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Often, a person is unaware that he is infected with hepatitis C. Left untreated, the infection can lead to cirrhosis and death.

No matter the destination, travelers often come home with more than pictures and T-shirts. They pick up a malady - a cold or a stomach ailment, or worse. But as the summer travel season gets under way, those in the business of keeping people healthy say good planning and some vigilance can increase the odds of keeping illness at bay. They say that for most people traveling domestically by car, train or plane, the most important steps to staying healthy - or at least reducing the severity of a cold - are simple.

Shares in Human Genome Sciences Inc., a 15-year-old Rockville biotech company that has yet to get a drug on the market, plummeted to their lowest level since 1995 yesterday after disclosing that serious side effects emerged during a clinical trial of a potentially lucrative hepatitis treatment when patients received high doses. The share price dropped nearly $4.40 to $5.62, or almost 44 percent. Human Genome Sciences officials said they were still optimistic that Albuferon would win approval - and have market success - at a lower dose.