PUYALLUP, Wash. - The Attorneys for a Puyallup nurse accused of infecting patients with Hepatitis C say research published by the CDC and the Washington State Department of Health aren’t enough to prove the allegations.
When officials at Puyallup's Good Samaritan Hospital first told the public about a hepatitis C outbreak in March of last year, they blamed nurse Cora Weberg. They said they believed she shared needles with patients, infecting at least 12 of them with the virus.
But Weberg's attorney Ken Kagan says a year later, an investigation by the Washington State Department of Health and a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have yet to provide clear evidence supporting those accusations.
Both do state Weberg as the potential source of infection.
Kagan says the conclusion she might be the source of infection is based only on a statistical argument.
“It’s she’s probably responsible because she was the one common treater of the number of people, but that’s circumstantial,” Kagan said.
But research by the Department of Health that was published by the CDC states:
Several epidemiologic findings in this investigation strongly indicate that nurse A was the likely source of infection for the 12 patients with acute HCV infection. First, she had accessed the automated drug dispensing system at a higher frequency than had other staff members and admitted to diverting patient injectable narcotic drugs for personal use. Second, she had seroconverted to anti-HCV–positive after a previous negative test and then tested positive for HCV RNA, indicating recent infection. Finally, having administered injectable narcotic, sedative, or antihistamine drugs to each patient, nurse A was the only common epidemiologic link to 13 patients with genetically similar HCV.
In a news conference last May, Weberg admitted she stole drugs from the hospital for a suicide attempt she never carried out -- but denied sharing needles with patients.
“I want everyone to know that I never intentionally or unintentionally stuck anyone with a needle with which I’d previously stuck myself,” Weberg said. “Of all the allegations that have been made against me, this is the most awful.”
Weberg admitted testing positive for Hepatitis C antibodies, but not the infection, although researchers say it is possible she could have experienced a more acute infection between a negative test in 2013 and positive antibody test in 2018.
And genetic tests could not link the virus in her to the virus infecting the Good Samaritan patients. The DOH research states this could be because her levels were too low to test for similarities.
Weberg was arrested when she and her family members tried to leave the country on a long planned vacation overseas.
“She was treated like a criminal. She was treated as somebody who acted very irresponsibly, in effect, knowing that she was a carrier of Hepatitis C, which she wasn’t,” Kagan claims.
Weberg has filed a lawsuit against MultiCare Health System -- the owner of Good Samaritan Hospital. She also faces a lawsuit from a patients she’s accused of infecting.
The Department of Health suspended Weberg’s nursing license following its investigation, issuing an order which was signed by both Weberg and her attorney.
Puyallup Police are conducting a criminal investigation, although no charges have been filed at this time.
Cox Media Group
