Medical tech sentenced to 39 years for spreading Hepatitis C

Medical technician David Kwiatkowski has been sentenced to 39 years in prison after he was found guilty of infecting patients, spread across four states, with hepatitis C through tainted syringes.

The traveling technician has spread the strain of hepatitis C he has to at least 46 people, CBS News reports. He kept moving from hospital job to job as he was often fired for theft and drug use.

Kwiatkowski said, "I don't blame the families for hating me. I hate myself," after listening to 20 statements from those he infected.

He admitted to replacing injections of Fetanyl, a painkiller, with tainted syringes filled with saline; the process is known as "drug diversion." In August, Kwiatkowski plead guilty to 16 federal drug charges.

According to ABC News, at least one patient died as a result of the tainted syringes.

ABC News' chief health and medical editor Dr. Richard Besser told Good Morning America last year, "If he knew that he was infected and he put those needles back on the shelf, that is the definition of evil. Anyone who was in those hospitals when he was working there is potentially at risk. We're talking tens of thousands of people."

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