Spanish Hep C anaesthetist jailed

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A Spanish anaesthetist with hepatitis C has been sentenced to nearly 2,000 years in prison for infecting hundreds of patients with the virus.

Juan Maeso, 65, infected 275 people between 1988 and 1997, by injecting himself with a morphine syringe before using the rest on a patient.

Valencia's Provincial Court sentenced Mr Maeso, who is a morphine addict, to 1,933 years in jail.

However the most he can serve under Spanish law is 20 years.

He was also ordered to pay 500,000 euros ($680,000) in damages to each of the victims or their survivors.

Mr Maeso is said to have infected patients when he worked in four hospitals in the Valencia area.

Four of those he infected with the virus have since died.