EXETER, N.H. (AP) — More than two dozen civil lawsuits filed against Exeter Hospital over its hepatitis C outbreak have been put on hold until early next year.

The Portsmouth Herald (http://bit.ly/RchhiR ) reports that a Rockingham County Superior Court judge has granted the hospital's request to temporarily halt the discovery process. That means hospital officials won't have to answer questions from the plaintiffs' attorneys until January, when a structuring conference will be scheduled.

The lawsuits accuse the hospital of negligence in hiring and supervising David Kwiatkowski, a former lab worker charged with stealing drugs from the hospital and replacing them with tainted syringes that were later used on patients. Thirty-two patients in New Hampshire and several in other states where Kwiatkowski previously worked have been diagnosed with the same strain of hepatitis C he carries.

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Information from: Portsmouth Herald, http://www.seacoastonline.com