> DENVER, Colorado (CNN) -- A former hospital employee may have
> exposed hundreds, or even thousands, of surgical patients to
> hepatitis C after taking their fentanyl injections and replacing
> them with used syringes filled with saline solution, authorities
> say.

> Kristen Diane Parker, who worked at Rose Medical Center in
> Denver, has admitted to secretly injecting herself in a bathroom
> and using unclean syringes as replacements for patients,
> investigators say.

> She had hepatitis C, which she believes she contracted through
> using heroin and sharing dirty needles while she lived in New
> Jersey in 2008, authorities say.

> She was a surgical technician at Rose from October 2008 to April
> 2009.

> Nine patients who had surgery there during that time have tested
> positive for hepatitis C. Investigators are looking into whether
> they contracted the virus from Parker.

> According to an affidavit filed by an investigator with the Food
> and Drug Administration, Rose Medical Center knew Parker tested
> positive for hepatitis C. She was counseled on how to limit her
> exposure to patients.

> Parker quit after she was found in an operating room where she
> was not allowed to be. She subsequently tested positive for
> fentanyl. Hospital officials then contacted the DEA.

> Parker is in federal custody facing three drug-related charges.
> If she is found to have done serious harm to a patient, she
> could face up to 20 years in prison. If a patient dies due to
> her actions, she could face life in prison.

> In a statement to police, Parker said, "I can't take back what I
> did, but I will have to live with it for the rest of my life,
> and so does everyone else."

> Her attorney could not be reached Friday.

> Rose Medical Center is contacting 4,700 patients who had surgery
> at Rose during the time Parker was employed there. However,
> hospital officials do not believe that that many patients were
> exposed.

> "We are taking a very conservative and cautious approach by
> contacting everyone who had surgery during this broad time
> period," a statement on the hospital's Web site states. "It is
> likely that most of the patients who receive letters will not
> have been exposed to hepatitis C."

> Another 1,200 patients may have been infected between May 4,
> 2009, and July 1, 2009, when Parker worked at Audubon Ambulatory
> Surgical Center in Colorado Springs. Audubon is also contacting
> patients.

> According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
> hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that can lead to
> cirrhosis or liver cancer