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BRENTWOOD A Hampstead woman is suing Exeter Hospital and other agencies, claiming she became infected with hepatitis C through contact with her husband after he contracted the virus from serial infector David Kwiatkowski while being treated at the hospital.

In a lawsuit filed in Rockingham County Superior Court, Linda Sanborn says her husband, Alden Butch Sanborn, transmitted hepatitis C to her through intimate contact that occurred before they were aware of his infection.

Certainly its a fear of spouses and an understandable one, Linda Sanborns attorney, Paul Kleinman said of the partners of those affected by the hepatitis C outbreak caused by Kwiatkowskis drug diversion scheme while working as a hospital lab technician.

According to the suit, Butch Sanborn was admitted to the hospitals cardiac catheterization lab on Jan. 27, 2012, for a procedure.

The suit said he became infected with hepatitis C through Kwiatkowski, who has admitted that while working at Exeter Hospital he would swap out the pain killer fentanyl by taking a syringe of the drug and replacing it with a syringe containing saline. He would inject the drug and then refill the syringe with saline. The syringes dirty needle was then reused on unsuspecting patients.

Butch Sanborn was diagnosed with hepatitis C, a potentially fatal viral infection of the liver, in late March 2012 after he was admitted to a Boston hospital.

Linda Sanborn was tested for the virus last year, but the test result was negative at the time, according to Kleinman of Bouchard, Kleinman & Wright of Manchester.

What happened was it was one of those situations where the disease hadnt shown up at that point. This was a unique situation and one where it was passed on by someone who had a very, very significant viral load in terms of the disease, Kleinman said Wednesday.

New Hampshire Director of Public Health Dr. Jose Montero said Wednesday he could not discuss any particular patient, but he did confirm that only one person contracted hepatitis C through secondary transmission.

Experts say hepatitis C is transmitted when blood from a person infected with the virus enters the body of someone who is not infected.

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Wife of hepatitis C victim, claiming she's now infected, sues Exeter Hospital