Officials say in all, 12 former patients of Dr. Stokes have Hepatitis C. We're told these patients either had hepatitis c while being treated by Dr. Stokes or contracted it within the last 10 years. The East Grand Rapids dermatologist is accused of unsanitary medical practices.

About 13,000 letters were sent to former patients asking them to be tested for the blood born illnesses. However, until their test results are submitted-- the Michigan Department of Community Health is assisting the Kent County Health Department by trying to cross reference patients with their communicable disease database.

They say they've only been able to get through less than 800 of those patients. Here's why, both agencies say Dr. Stokes apparently kept such incomplete records that hundreds of them are missing patient birthdays which are needed to verify identities. Because of this new obstacle both agencies say it could take several more months before they know how many patients have hepatitis c or AIDS.