Please note that Hepatitis C is also linked to higher rates of liver cancer, cirrhosis, and liver transplants. Much more money is needed to fund research, and educate and alert the public about this disease which is also called “The Silent Epidemic. As a woman with Hepatitis C, I have found that there is much prejudice to patients with Hepatitis C. Perhaps with more education and research the public will be more open to getting tested. Right now there are probably millions of people who have the disease and don’t know it. If indeed this nurse knowingly infected anyone, hopefully he will be incarcerated and won’t be able to infect anyone else.

How is it that this person was able to move from state to state, possible infecting more patients with this deadly disease? With the ease of the internet at our fingertips, why isn’t there some national site where hospitals can check the medical personnel they hire? And if they can’t check them that way, what happened to good old a fashioned background/reference check? Medical organizations have become complacent with the nursing shortage, and are hiring people who should not be hired.