Hospitals illegally dumped human flesh, patient data in garbage, California officials say
A California district attorney’s office investigation into a county-run hospital system led to a “gruesome” discovery: Three hospitals illegally dumped human flesh, patient information and fentanyl, prosecutors say.
Following its investigation into Santa Clara Valley Healthcare, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said it now plans to take civil enforcement action against the county, according to a Dec. 5 news release from prosecutors.
“The County’s health and hospital system is run with taxpayer dollars,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the release. “The public needs to know what happened, and the County will not get a free pass when it comes to environmental protection and consumer privacy laws.”
In an emailed statement to McClatchy News on Dec. 6, a county spokesperson said they understand the “immense” undertaking in the district attorney’s office’s investigation and “is taking the matter very seriously.”
“We are committed to adopting industry best-practices to prevent future occurrences and upon learning of the details three weeks ago, immediately began implementing corrective actions to address the concerns, including reviewing and updating policies, creating an audit review process, and designating department liaisons to quickly facilitate necessary changes,” the spokesperson said. “We take environmental stewardship and the confidentiality of patient health information seriously and are working to strengthen our efforts in these areas while still delivering high-quality patient care.”
Eight inspections
Donning hazmat suits, investigators with the district attorney’s office made eight unannounced inspections starting in November 2023, prosecutors said.
The investigators searched the garbage compactors hauled away from the three hospitals: Valley Medical Center, O’Connor Hospital and St. Louise Hospital, prosecutors said.
“The results, I’ll warn you, are gruesome,” Rosen said at a news conference.
While sifting through the garbage, investigators found biohazardous waste, including “human flesh, blood soaked gauze, bloody tubing and vials of blood,” Rosen said.
Investigators also found pharmaceutical waste, such as “non-empty vials of liquid prescription drugs,” Rosen said.
They found “hundreds of documents,” including sticker labels on IV bags and paperwork with unredacted patient information, Rosen said, calling it “an egregious violation of your privacy.”
“Paperwork and labels that contain our personal and medical information need to be shredded or redacted by the healthcare provider,” Rosen said. “That’s not a best practice. That’s the law.”
One of the photos shared by prosecutors shows an investigator in a hazmat suit sifting through what appears to be dozens of garbage bags. Other photos show scores of prescription bottles, blood vials and medical waste, including bloodied gauze.
“We have a pretty compelling amount of evidence,” Bud Porter, a supervising deputy district attorney, told the Los Angeles Times.
Based on the findings from the eight inspections, prosecutors said they estimate over the past year the hospitals have illegally dumped “tens of thousands of items of medical and hazardous waste.”
“State law requires generators of medical and hazardous waste, including the county, to manage the waste from cradle to grave to ensure its proper storage, transportation and disposal,” Rosen said.
Law requires, for example, biohazardous waste to be segregated and “incinerated or sterilized at high temperatures,” according to prosecutors.
Penalties forthcoming
As a result of their findings, prosecutors said they will take civil enforcement action against the county, “which runs the state’s second-largest county-owned health system.”
Per state law, civil penalties for improperly dumping hazardous waste could reach $70,000 per disposal and $10,000 per disposal for medical waste, according to prosecutors.
In this case, the total amount of fines could reach $1 billion, Rosen said, adding that the actual agreed amount would likely be less, the San Jose Spotlight reported.
“Once the hospitals are in compliance, we will then have a discussion about fines, fees and penalties,” Rosen said, the outlet reported.
Last year, Kaiser Permanente settled a similar case involving the illegal dumping of medical waste and patient information for $49 million, according to a news release from the State of California Department of Justice.
“If you’re going to be in the health care field, there’s no immunity, no freebie just because you’re the government,” Rosen said. “‘We’re the county’ is not a defense.”
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 9:47 AM with the headline "Hospitals illegally dumped human flesh, patient data in garbage, California officials say."
