Lab Worker Arrested for Reusing Needles
A woman who admitted reusing intravenous needles at a medical lab here was arrested Thursday on charges of assault with a deadly weapon.
Elaine M. Giorgi, 53, was arrested by Palo Alto police outside her home in San Mateo, said Palo Alto police Agent Ron Watson.
Giorgi is charged with five felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, seven felony counts of improper disposal of medical waste and one misdemeanor count of falsification of medical records.
Deputy District Attorney Dale Sonderson, who is handling Giorgi’s prosecution, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Giorgi drew blood from an estimated 4,600 people at the SmithKline Beecham Lab in Palo Alto between June 1998 and March 1999, when she was fired.
She was also accused of intentionally mislabeling blood in order to cover up mistakes, of using the same pipette for both blood and urine samples and of rarely wearing rubber gloves when working.
She has since been barred from working as a phlebotomist or in related medical fields.
A class action suit was filed against SmithKline on behalf of patients.
The company was been fined $102,000 for failing to properly supervise and train Giorgi, and for not having a doctor within five minutes of the Palo Alto lab in case of emergencies.
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