Audio By Carbonatix
Remember Kristen Parker, the surgical tech who passed her case of hepatitis-C to at least fifteen patients at Rose Medical Center via needles she’d used on herself?
As part of her plea agreement in the case, she had to explain what she’d done on a video that’s now been released — and her confessions are chilling in their cluelessness and casual egocentricity.
Here are some key excerpts courtesy of KRDO-TV in Colorado Springs, a city where Parker also worked; thus far, no patients at Audubon Surgery Center there have tested positive for hep-C:
Asst. U.S. Attorney Jaime Pena: Did Northern Westchester (Medical Center in Mount Kisco, NY) have an application process?
Parker: Yes, sir.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: Did the application include questions about prior drug use?
Parker: Yes, sir.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: Did you answer them correctly?
Parker: No, sir.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: Why?
Parker: I didn’t want to be discriminated against and not get the job.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: Did the application (at Audubon Surgery Center) ask you about your drug use?
Parker: As far as I remember.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: Do you remember telling the truth?
Parker: Nope…
Asst. U.S. Attorney: The people that have been harmed by your conduct need to know this, were there other people at your house that possibly could have had access to the needles [while living in Denver?]
Parker: Yes.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: Other drug users?
Parker: Yes.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: And that’s a possibility?
Parker: It’s a possibility.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: Did you ever see anybody use any of your needles?
Parker: Absolutely not…
Asst. U.S. Attorney: How soon after you start at Audubon do you realize that you have access to controlled substances?
Parker: A week.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: How soon after you start at Audubon do you start accessing, diverting the controlled substances?
Parker: As soon as I can…
Asst. U.S. Attorney: You were made aware that there had been a Hepatitis C outbreak at Rose that was possibly linked back to you.
Parker: Yup. That’s whenever I started caring, which is sad. That’s whenever I stopped stealing and I started looking at treatment places.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: You essentially stopped because you knew you were caught.
Parker: It wasn’t yes, I knew I was caught, but it’s like I said it popped back into my head, you have people who got this from what I did… How could you continue to do this after people have gotten sick from it.
Asst. U.S. Attorney: You also lied about the fact that you didn’t know or say you didn’t know you had hepatitis C, that was a lie right?
Parker: Yeah.
