More patients infected with hepititis C come forward
Posted Nov 18, 2011 05:57:17 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Three more former patients of Ottawa doctor Christine Farazli have come forward claiming they have hepatitis C, bringing the total infections to seven.
According to the Ottawa Sun it was Nicholas Robinson, the lawyer who launched the $20-million class-action lawsuit against the doctor who reported the new cases.
The patients were treated by Farazli between 2002 and 2011, and were told in October they had possibly been exposed to HIV and hepatitis B and C because of improper sterilization practices at the clinic.
Hepatitis C is a chronic liver infection can be spread through sexual contact, although very rare. It is also transmitted through contact with contaminated blood– most commonly through medical procedures or by sharing infected needles during drug use.
Ottawa Public Health said about half the people who were sent letters have been tested.
Once the results are in, the job will be to determine if the infections where contracted at the clinic or elsewhere.
