Did Griffin Hospital in Derby Reuse Insulin Pens? Lawsuit Says Yes

DERBY, CT — Griffin Hospital in Derby is being sued for allegedly reusing insulin injector pens on different patients, a move that could have exposed thousands of former patients to blood-borne diseases, such as HIV, the plaintiffs' attorney says.

In a May 2014 letter, the hospital's CEO Patrick Charmel notified 3,149 former patients that over a nearly six-year period from 2008 to 2014 insulin injector pens may have been misused by staff, reports the Connecticut Post. The hospital offered free testing and treatment to those patients if they had been exposed to certain blood-borne illnesses.

Stamford attorney Ernest Teitell has filed the class-action lawsuit on behalf of those former patients, and he believes as many as 11 hospital nurses and staff members may have been involved in improperly reusing the insulin pens.

“We brought this case in order to hold Griffin Hospital accountable for the clearly systematic unsafe practices that occurred for a more than five-and-a-half-year period,” Teitell told the Post. A hospital spokesperson declined to comment to the publication.

Click here to read the full story on the Connecticut Post website.

Image via Shutterstock