Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California

Im an immunizing pharmacist who works at a chain pharmacy in 8/18, I accidently poked my finger after giving a avaccine to a patient,our company policy states that I should file a claim with workers comp and then go to the urgent care and we also have to contact the patient ,I went to the urgent care but the pharmacy manager was the one who contacted the patient ,the manager then called my coworker who was with me and told her to tell me not to worry since he doesn�t have any infectious diseases.the next day I was off,and as soon as my coworker enters the pharmacy ,the pharmacy manager tells her that he has hepatitis c and that she didn�t want to tell me because I�m pregnant ,(on that day we had a reopening event and the district manager came to the pharmacy)she mentions this fact infront of 3 techs and the store manager and the assistant manager which they don�t have to know(according to our company policy ,if a pharmacist poked his finger and if the patient has any infectious diseases it should be kept confidential 100%))anyway nobody told me about the patient having hepatitis c until 8/24 ( I was told by one of my coworkers�,I just want to let u know that from 8.18 till 8.24 I was contacted by my district manager twice(one time was immediately after the incident happened but she didn�t know at that time, she called me to let me know that I have to go to the urgent care ,which I already knew,however she knew that the patient has hepatitis c 2 hours after the incident through my pharmacy manager),the second time she called was on 8.22 to check on me and she didn�t mention anything about hepatitis c ,also the district manager came on 8.19 to the pharmacy and discuss the fact with the pharmacy manager that the patient has hepatitis c ,I was also contacted by the assigned clinical pharmacist for our district on 8.22 ( he called me regarding a different issue,he also knew from the first day that the patient has hepatitis c )and he didn�t mention anything about it ,also on the same day 8.18 another clinincal pharmacist contacted me 3 times (when I was at the urgent care center to let me know about how workers comp works and the steps that I should follow, and ofcourse she knew that he has hepatitis c from the pharmacy manager,and she didn�t mention anything about hepatitis c) , infact 10 people new about it before I did)

when I knew on 8.24 I first called and asked the patient and he was so surprised and upset ,he said that he told the pharmacy manager from the first day when she called him, I asked the pharmacy manager why she didn�t tell me ,she said I was worried that u will not take it easy since you are pregnant ,then she didn�t have any explanation why she told a lot of people who don�t even have to know , I also asked her who knew that he has hepatits c and she mentioned all the names in the first paragraph and when they knew , then I called my district manager and she was in a business meeting in a different state and called me back on 8.29 after I called her again (and told me that she thought that I knew about the fact from the first day ,and that she didn�t want to discuss it with me when she called me between 8.18 and 8.24 so she will not make me feel bad!) she also said that she will call my manager in 2 days, and she didn�t ,on 9.6 the clinical pharmacist(the one who is assigned to our district ) came to the pharmacy ( he is one of the people who new from the beginning ) and asked me to sign a paper that he will retrain me on how to give injections and that the pharmacy policy was followed when the incident happened and I said no ,at this time he calls my didstrict manager and tell her and then she calls me back and apologized and said that she didn�t talk to the pharmacy manger because she was busy and that she will come on 9.9 to talk to her,on 9.9 she didn�t even come to the pharmacy , she only calls the pharmacy manager on the phone and disscuss it with her , so on 9.12 I decided to call human resourses to discuss it with them and they come the next day with the district manager ,they sat with me ,with the pharmacy manager and with the one of my coworker (separately).in our conversation they told me that its a serious hippa issue and neglegince issue but that the pharmacy manager had good intentions ,and they didn�t have an explanation about why my district manager didn�t also tell me that he had hepatitis c and why it took her so long before contacting my manger ,and to make things worse they also offered me a transfer to another store after getting back from my maternity leave since we cannot work together any more beacause I told them that the trust was broken ,and when I asked if I can come back and work at the same store they said I can ,but if I don�t want to work with my manger then im the one who will be trasfered , they only talked to the pharmacy manager ,few days after that I called my district maager and she confirmed this fact , and told me that what happened is not a big issue and that hippa breaches happen every day and that nothing will be done,and she said if I don�t want to work with the pharmacy manager I have to be transferred , I also contacted the human resources again to check with them and they said that they will take an action and call me back and no body did till this day ,I just want to let you know that I�ve been working at that store for 2 years and the pharmacy manager has been working there for 2 months only (however she has been working with the company for 4 years)we took a lot of trainings about the hippa act and we always have to sign papers that we understand that hippa is a very important issue that has to be followed, I was also told by my district manager that the head of the clinical pharmacist s will call me to explain why the clinical pharmacists didn�t tell me anything about it and I was never contacted ,also before giving the vaccine to any patient the patient has to fill a form and answer some questions ,one of the questions asks if the patient has hiv and immune comprised disease but nothing mentions anything about hepatitis c ,also if I had a sexual relationship with my husband from 8.18 till 8.24 and I�m positive for the disease I could have transmitted it to my husband ,my question is can I sew them ?would it be a good case?


Asked on 10/07/11, 11:52 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility refers to the ethics of the legal profession and the State Bar Rules of Professional Responsibility, and related legal issues. Your question has nothing to do with that. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to read your question which is over 1,200 words and appears to be a single run-on sentence, since there are almost no periods and no capitalization following any of the periods. If you want help, you need to post a coherent question in an appropriate category.

Read more
Answered on 10/07/11, 12:59 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Legal Ethics & Professional Responsibility questions and answers in California