Former Audubon surgery technician indicted on more criminal counts

A federal grand jury Thursday indicted a former operating room scrub technician on charges that she swapped dirty needles for syringes filled with a powerful painkiller while working at Rose Medical Center in Denver.

The indictment charges Kristen Diane Parker, 26, of Elizabeth with 21 counts each of tampering with a consumer product and obtaining a controlled substance by deceit.

Federal authorities also said 19 surgery patients – all from Rose – have tested positive for hepatitis C that can be linked to Parker, a former Colorado Springs resident. Parker told Denver police that she believes she contracted the disease by injecting herself with heroin while living in New Jersey last summer.

“I would like to reassure the victims of Kristen Parker that prosecuting this case is a priority, and that their interests will be well represented,” Acting U.S. Attorney David Gaouette said in a prepared statement.

If convicted, Parker faces up to 10 years in prison on each count of the tampering charge. She faces up to 20 years if one of the victims suffers serious injury and life in prison if one of them dies. The drug charge carries a maximum sentence of 4 years for each count.

The indictment charges Parker with switching syringes to obtain Fentanyl Citrate from October 2008 to April 2009 while she worked at Rose. On two dates, she is accused of obtaining the drug twice in one day.

During that period, the grand jury charged she showed “reckless disregard” for persons to whom she was placing in risk of serious injury.

None of the charges relate to a period when she was employed at Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs, where she worked after officials at Rose fired her.

There have been no reported cases of hepatitis C among the patients who had surgeries at Audubon while she was on duty. Her arrest, however, resulted in some 4,700 surgery patients at Rose and Audubon having to undergo tests for hepatitis C.

Federal agents arrested Parker on July 3 on a three-count criminal complaint. She waived a preliminary hearing but exercised her right to have the case go before the grand jury, which resulted in the indictment.

Parker remains in federal custody without bond pending an Aug. 6 hearing where she will be advised of the indictment and arraigned.