Santa Clara County DA accuses hospitals of illegally dumping medical waste
The Santa Clara District Attorney's Office on Thursday filed a civil enforcement action case against three county-run hospitals for improperly disposing hazardous medical waste including bodily fluids and drugs.
In a press conference announcing the litigation, District Attorney Jeff Rosen said medical dumping violates state law.
"The county must stop illegally dumping hazardous waste and untreated medical waste. The county must stop illegally dumping dangerous drugs," Rosen said. "The county must stop illegally dumping human blood and human flesh."
The hospitals are accused of mixing medical waste -- including human tissue and blood -- and narcotics like fentanyl with regular garbage. State law requires hospitals to incinerate or sterilize contaminated trash at high temperatures.
Authorities also said confidential patient information was included in the improperly disposed of materials.
The DA's office partnered with the Department of Toxic Substance Control to uncover three different locations where the materials were improperly dumped. The facilities are Valley Medical Center and O'Connor Medical Center in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy.
"This is an enormous hospital system, and it will be very difficult to change this overnight. It's something that will take a long time to do," Rosen said.
The DA said that the material was packaged and sent to a landfill where it poses a risk to air and water quality. His office was already looking into medical dumping back in November 2023, when all three hospitals were notified about the hazardous materials found in garbage and asked to stop the practice.
Continued inspections found that did not happen.
"I think it's fair to say that the civil penalties, fines and fees that the county is looking at are in the millions of dollars," Rosen said.
The hospitals could face hefty fines, but Rosen said the money isn't the main objective.
"Our number one goal is to get the hospital system into compliance," he explained. "And so that will take the hospital system a period."
