Patient sues Shore Medical Center after 213 put at risk of HIV, hepatitis

A lawsuit has been filed against Shore Medical Center by a patient who may have been exposed to blood tainted with disease.

Last week, the hospital alerted 213 patients who received intravenous morphine or hydromorphone medication between June 1, 2013, and Sept. 17, 2014 that they may have been exposed to HIV or hepatitis B or C because of an employee's drug tampering.  The Press of Atlantic City reported that the suit accuses the hospital and a former pharmacist of negligence and violating the Pure Food and Drug Act.

A former pharmacist at the hospital allegedly tampered with the drugs by replacing morphine with saline solution in vials that were administered to patients, according to an internal investigation at the hospital and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. He was arrested last month and charged with drug tampering, theft and drug possession.

It is not clear yet if any of those notified have tested positive for HIV or hepatitis.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.