| ■ 3 hepatitis C cases linked to NYC doctor | 07.06.20 |
| Authorities urged 4,500 people who were treated by an anesthesiologist to get tested for hepatitis C, saying three patients may have been infected as the doctor gave them anesthesia. The city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene said Thursday it was mailing letters to everyone at risk and noted that the liver-damaging disease cannot be spread by casual contact. Three people treated by the doctor in August were diagnosed with hepatitis C in recent months, the health department said. Laboratory tests suggest they were infected while getting intravenous anesthesia drugs during outpatient procedures, according to the agency. Authorities have not identified the anesthesiologist. A state Health Department spokeswoman, Claudia Hutton, said the agency had not established "that the doctor is guilty of doing anything wrong." The doctor has had a medical license since 1977 and "does not have a history of spreading infection," Hutton said. City authorities said they were contacting everyone treated by the anesthesiologist while he or she practiced at 10 different medical offices in New York City, from Dec. 1, 2003, to May 1, 2007. The doctor has stopped practicing during the investigation, the city health department said. |