Doc Infects 55 Women With Hepatitis C

A doctor who was addicted to a painkiller pleaded guilty of infecting at least 55 women with hepatitis C and betraying the trust of those who relied on him. James Latham Peters, 63, was sentenced to a maximum of 14 years in jail for his crimes.

Peters, a victim of hepatitis C, was found guilty if infecting 55 women and prosecutors felt there could be more.

"There are approximately 10 more who refused to speak to police for fear that their partners would learn that they had undergone terminations and were suffering from hepatitis C," chief Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert, SC, said.

Peters was a drug addict, and could not do without the narcotic painkiller fentanyl. He often injected himself with it. He then re-used the syringes on women who came to the hospital for abortions.

"This was not a single transitory madness with 55 dreadful consequences," Justice Forrest told Peters during the trial. "You had been addicted for many years, you knew you had hepatitis C, and you knew how it could be transmitted to others. You breached the great trust that every patient places in his or her treating doctor."

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Source-Medindia