Woman says she contracted Hepatitis C after visit to Bellevue dental clinic

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- A Bellevue woman says she walked into a dental clinic for a routine check-up and walked out with Hepatitis C. She says the clinic is to blame. She fears she isn’t the only one affected.

With her youngest son and attorney by her side, Sandra, who didn’t want to share her last name for privacy reasons, said she’s afraid.

“I’m concerned, and I don’t feel comfortably able to touch anybody right now,” said Sandra. “I don’t know what it’s about. I’m scared.”

Woman says she contracted Hepatitis C after visit to Bellevue dental office

She’s scared after receiving test results showing she’s positive for Hepatitis C, a blood borne disease known to attack the liver.

“I’m hoping that my body is strong enough to heal it, but still it’s waiting,” said Sandra.

Sandra said she got tested days after her June check-up, only after her dental clinic called to say there may have been a risk of cross contamination with the equipment.

“Basically, it came down to I needed to be tested for Hep C, Hep B, Hep A and HIV, which I did,” said Sandra.

Sandra has now hired an attorney who is helping to investigate; they want to know how this happened and if other victims are out there.

“We want to do what we can do to help her and obviously the public in general because there could be a lot more Sandras out there who could be affected by this,” said Jason Epstein, Sandra’s attorney with Premiere Law Group.

The King County Health Department says it is looking into the matter after receiving inquiries about the case. In the meantime, Sandra says she waits, not knowing how to move forward with a disease she fears has already changed her life forever.

“I’m concerned; I’ve got eight grandchildren; I’ve got six sons, and I really don’t feel safe right now,” said Sandra.

Sandra’s attorney didn’t want to release her last name for privacy reasons.

The clinic's chief operating officer said they are not aware of any of their patients contracting Hepatitis C. The COO also said that if this case does go into litigation, he wouldn’t be able to comment further on this case.