Santa Clara County hospitals illegally dump medical waste

Human flesh and blood. Confidential patient information. Fentanyl. Santa Clara County’s top prosecutor alleges his investigators found these items and more after a covert, yearlong investigation into illegal dumping by Valley Medical Center, St. Louise and O’Connor hospitals. Investigators in hazmat suits conducted a series of unannounced waste inspections of garbage compactors starting in November 2023, according to District Attorney Jeff Rosen. He alleges they also found a plethora of illegal medical and hazardous waste dumping at Regional Medical Center, which the county is acquiring from HCA Healthcare to expand what is now the state’s second largest public hospital system. “I…