Son of hepatitis C victim, family attorney speak out on suit

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

ksiatkowski — David Kwiatkowski is serving 39 years in prison for infecting patients with hepatitis C. The family of a Natoma woman has filed a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania hospital in connection with the case.

The son of a Natoma woman who died at Hays Medical Center after being infected with hepatitis C by a temporary employee “doesn’t expect anything” to come of a lawsuit filed by the family against the perpetrator’s previous employer.

Eleanor Y. Murphy, 89, Natoma, died in November 2012 at Hays Medical Center. According to the complaint, Murphy contracted hepatitis C after being treated by David Kwiatkowski, who worked at HaysMed when she was hospitalized there in 2010.

“My mother was one of six Hays Med patients determined to have the same strain of hep C as Kwiatkowski,” Lonnie Murphy, Hays, said Thursday.

Murphy and his siblings are suing UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa., and two medical staffing companies because, the family claims, they failed to notify law enforcement or health authorities in 2008 when they found Kwiatkowski stealing narcotics and injecting himself with them.

Kwiatkowski no longer was allowed to work at the hospital, but UPMC did not report his behavior to law enforcement or medical licensing facilities, the lawsuit said. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette first reported the lawsuit in a story last week.

Because of that, the complaint continues, Kwiatkowski continued working at hospital across the country for four more years. Kwiatkowski worked in the Hays Med cardiac catheterization laboratory from May to September 2010.

Kwiatkowski was sentenced to 39 years in prison after pleading in August to 16 federal counts. Investigators said he was responsible for infecting at least 45 hospital patients with hepatitis C by contaminating syringes.

“Other lawsuits filed by victims have been thrown out by the judge, so I don’t expect anything to come of our lawsuit. The main thing is that (Kwiatkowski) got put away,” Murphy said.

The Murphy family has hired Topeka attorney Tom Diehl, who is working in conjunction with peers in Kansas City and Pittsburgh.

“The case is filed but not on the court calendar yet,” Diehl said Thursday. “The lawsuit of another client of ours in the same situation was dismissed, along with two others. Since then, we’ve acquired additional information and expect to refile those cases, asking the judge to take another look at them.

“We’re in limbo, waiting for the judge to reconsider the earlier lawsuits,” he added.

The lawsuit, which includes claims of negligence and seeks punitive damages, also names as defendants Maxim Healthcare Services Inc. and Medical Solutions LLC, which place employees in health care jobs.