An employee who received a flu vaccine from the nurse who re-used syringes now has to wait for six months before knowing with certainty the vaccination wasn't tainted by HIV or hepatitis.
It was late on a Friday afternoon, the work week winding down, when the attention-getting email mail arrived.
Its importance was marked "High," and it was from the New Jersey Department of Health.
The message said the flu shot administered two days earlier at the workplace clinic held at Otsuka Pharmaceutical in West Windsor may have exposed recipients to HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. They needed to get tested immediately, then tested again in four to six months.
The infection-control lapse occurred Sept. 30 when a nurse inoculated 67 workers using just two syringes.
"I have not slept since I have found out. I am tired beyond belief," said one of the shot recipients, who provided the email to NJ Advance Media. "At first I viewed it as not a big deal. But then it starts hitting you: HIV, Hepatitis C ... this is serious."
The employee asked not to be identified -- even to the extent of publicly disclosing their gender -- because their company has a strict policy against employees talking to the media.
The bungled clinic came to light when someone at the company noticed something was amiss and reported it. The N.J. Department of Health reportedly interviewed the nurse who gave the injections that night. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was also notified.
The Department of Health then informed the N.J. Board of Nursing, which requested the nurse, Mary Roback, temporarily surrender the LPN license she'd held for 30 years pending further action against her. A consent order filed against her states Roback, 61, agreed to that request.
NJ Advance Media has been unable to reach her for comment.
RELATED: Nurse suspended for re-use of flu syringes on 67 people, state says
She had been sent to Otsuka as a contract employee of TotalWellness, a company that employers hire to run onsite workplace flu shot clinics as well as biometric screenings. Its website lists corporate clients as diverse as Toys R Us, Ann Taylor, and McGraw Hill.
In a letter to the 67 affected employees -- also provided to NJ Advance Media -- the president of TotalWellness, Alan Kohll, wrote, "On behalf of TotalWellness, we offer our sincerest apology. We will continue to address training, education and monitoring to insure that our health care workers adhere to recommended best practices in caring for patients. We want to work with you to resolve the situation and ensure your safety and well-being. Be assured of our assistance in every way possible."
Otsuka, the company that brought in the nurse as part of its employee wellness program, released a statement that said in part, "We were upset and alarmed when we learned that a nurse, affiliated with TotalWellness, the company we retained to provide free flu shots for our employees, had breached vaccination protocols during what should have been a routine flu shot clinic.
"Our highest priority at this difficult time is to help these individuals get all of the necessary information and health resources they need, including making confidential counseling services available for those who feel they may need additional support."
A spokeswoman for the Mercer County Prosecutor said last week the episode isn't being investigated as a possible crime.
While this employee knows the chances of infection are quite low -- the nurse did use a fresh needle for each person -- they're still angry.
Rather than get tested at a free clinic provided by the West Windsor Board of Health, this employee went to their personal physician. There, they learned they need to act as if they have HIV or hepatitis for the next six months, taking all the recommended precautions with everything from handling their sex lives to informing their dentist of the risk.
The employee described a workplace now fraught with anxiety. Nearly everyone there has some sort of scientific or medical background, so they know that even if any of the 67 did get infected with a virus, they aren't contagious.
"Obviously we're in the health industry, so they know we can't contaminate other people," the employee said. Since the flu shots were given in a small conference room to one employee at a time, most of the 67 never crossed paths when getting their shots.
Yet while their identities are unknown to each other, they are tied together in a worrisome bond, the employee said: "I view it this way -- 67 people shared bodily fluids for the day."
Since the name of the nurse was made public, the Otsuka employee has researched her online in hopes of understanding her behavior.
"I don't think she should be a nurse any more, so yes, she should lose her license," the employee said. "I feel for her -- if she made an honest mistake. If we all get through this (without getting infected), maybe it wasn't criminal."
In the meantime, the employee plans to meet with a lawyer to find out what options are available to victims of the flu clinic that made international headlines, adding, "I'll leave it up to the courts to decide who is to blame."
Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
