A medical horror story is developing in the rainswept state of Washington. According to police investigators, 31-year-old nurse Cora Weberg is suspected of intentionally infecting at least two patients with hepatitis C. Washington's News Tribune also reported that Weberg could face charges of second-degree assault for these crimes.
The story began in December of the last year when two people claimed that they were infected with hepatitis C while they were patients at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington. The hospital immediately asked all patients who were admitted to the hospital between August 2017 and March 2018 to be tested for the virus.
So far, only a handful of cases have been found.
Weberg's defense attorney, Bryan Hershman, claims that there is no proof tying his client to the very localized hep C outbreak at the hospital. It is telling however that Weberg is believed to have hepatitis C herself. The theory as it stands now is that Weberg stole drugs from the hospital and mixed them with traces of her own blood in order to pass on her virus.
Caught at the border
The strange saga of Weberg hit the newsstands when she was recently arrested at the Canadian border with her boyfriend. The couple says that they were en route to a planned vacation in Guam. Because investigators feared that Weberg was about to flee the country, they arrested her with very little evidence of her guilt.
Ryan Portman, a spokesman for Puyallup police investigators, told local news station KCPQ that police felt pressed for time when it came to arresting Weberg. Portman said that the police "would have liked to have developed some more evidence" prior to placing the cuffs on Weberg.
At this point in the story, there has been no word released about Weberg's possible motive.
Eunice Wenberg, Cora's mother, spoke out about her daughter's innocence in an interview with the News Tribune. Eunice says that her daughter does not have hepatitis C, is not an intravenous drug user, and is in a monogamous relationship with her boyfriend.
The virus' toll
One of the people infected with hepatitis C at the Good Samaritan Hospital claims that he has to live with the "emotional and mental anguish" of being a carrier for the potentially deadly virus.
Hepatitis C mostly impacts the liver and is most often transmitted via the sharing of dirty syringes.
Many hep C patients experience no symptoms at all, but those who do often experience vomiting, extreme stomach pain, and a yellowing of the skin. If you or anyone you know has such symptoms, please seek medical treatment right away.
