Local law enforcement officials are investigating Santa Clara (Calif.) Valley Healthcare after finding evidence that its hospitals have been illegally dumping biohazardous waste including human tissue, vials of prescription drugs and unredacted documents containing patient data.
Since November 2023, investigators for the Santa Clara County district attorney's office have conducted eight undercover waste inspections from garbage compactors that were hauled away from three of the system's hospitals. They found vials containing prescription drugs, including fentanyl, blood-filled vials, human tissue and hundreds of unredacted documents containing personal patient information, the district attorney's office said in a Dec. 5 news release.
Based on evidence gathered from the inspections, officials estimate that the hospitals have unlawfully disposed of tens of thousands of medical and hazardous waste items over the past year. By law, disposing of these items requires special handling, including separating them in red bags and incinerating or sterilizing them at high temperatures.
"The County's health and hospital system is run with taxpayer dollars," District Attorney Jeff Rosen, said in the release. "The public needs to know what happened, and the County will not get a free pass when it comes to environmental protection and consumer privacy laws."
The DA's office said it will bring a civil enforcement action against the county for the violations, which carry penalties of up to $70,000 per disposal of hazardous waste and up to $10,000 for medical waste.
Last year, Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente agreed to a $49 million settlement with the state to resolve claims that its facilities unlawfully disposed of hazardous waste and PHI.
In a statement to Becker's, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare said it immediately began taking corrective measures when they were informed of the findings.
"Santa Clara Valley Healthcare understands the immense efforts and work invested by the district attorney’s office in reviewing medical and hazardous waste disposal and is taking the matter very seriously," the statement said.
"We are committed to adopting industry best-practices to prevent future occurrences and upon learning of the details three weeks ago, immediately began implementing corrective actions to address the concerns, including reviewing and updating policies, creating an audit review process, and designating department liaisons to quickly facilitate necessary changes. We take environmental stewardship and the confidentiality of patient health information seriously and are working to strengthen our efforts in these areas while still delivering high-quality patient care."