A class action lawsuit brought against Swedish Medical Center saying it was negligent in hiring a surgical technologist who stole drugs and exposed patients to HIV, hepatitis B and C has added the company that performed Rocky Allen’s background check for the hospital.
Court documents show PreCheck Inc., a Texas corporation, has been added to the suit, according to court documents.
Swedish and HealthONE of Denver Inc. recently disclosed that PreCheck performed the background hiring check on Allen, who was sentenced in November to by a federal judge.
A in U.S. District Court in Denver court alleges patients were exposed to HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C, in part, due to the hospital’s negligence in hiring Allen.
The Englewood hospital fired Allen, who has since been convicted in federal court for stealing a syringe filled with fentanyl from an operating room.
Court records show that by the time Swedish hired him, Allen had been fired from four other hospitals and also had been court-martialed in 2011, when he was serving with the Navy in Afghanistan, for the theft of fentanyl.
“By the time Allen appeared on the doorstep of SMC in August 2015 looking for a job as a surgical technician, all the warning signs of what would later occur at SMC were present,” the lawsuit states. “Allen already had been terminated by numerous other hospitals for the exact conduct that has now exposed thousands of SMC patients at an increased risk of bloodborne pathogens.”
The lawsuit names three plaintiffs, Angelica Porras, Catherine Pecha and Gary Wolter, but sought class-action status for all individuals who had surgery at Swedish between Aug. 17, 2015, and Jan. 22, 2016. The plaintiffs seek economic and compensatory damages.
The hospital offered free blood tests to 2,900 patients.
Each of the three named plaintiffs has received negative test results for the three viruses, the lawsuit states. But all three were told that despite those test results, they remain at risk and should pursue continued blood testing, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims the hospital negligently hired Allen, negligently inflicted emotional distress and failed to properly supervise Allen after hiring him.
Named as defendants are Swedish and its parent companies, Hospital Corp. of America and HealthONE of Denver. The lawsuit states that another HealthONE hospital, Rose Medical Center, had another drug-theft scandal.
Last month, Allen received on his prison sentence for breaking a judge’s trust when he took a vacation with family while on his way to an Oregon prison to serve his sentence.
Staff writers Noelle Phillips and Christopher N. Osher contributed information for this report.
