Nurse charged in death of Wellington woman

WEST PALM BEACH — A 47-year-old registered nurse who lives in Loxahatchee has been charged with culpable negligence in the 2005 death of a 74-year-old Wellington woman.

News that Lorri Ann Depasqua faces a misdemeanor charge in the death of Camilla Combs came Tuesday as the Combs' two daughters gathered at their lawyer's office to announce they had filed a civil lawsuit against the nurse and the home health agencies that employed her.

Julie McPherson, who represents her late mother's estate, said she and her siblings filed the lawsuit to raise awareness about the power of blood-thinning medication.

"It's important for people to understand with these drugs there needs to be monitoring," said McPherson, who lives in Wellington. "If you're not monitored properly, you could die."

That's exactly what happened to her mother, according to the lawsuit and the investigation that led to a criminal charge against Depasqua this month.

According to the investigation by the Florida Attorney General's Office, Depasqua repeatedly gave Combs injections of the blood-thinner Lovenox but did not draw blood to be tested to make sure the amount in her system was within acceptable limits. Combs also was taking Coumadin, another blood thinner, as part of treatment for heart problems.

According to doctors orders, which were given to Depasqua, Combs' blood was to be tested daily, according to the investigative report.

When Combs was admitted to the hospital on Aug. 14, 2005, the amount of anti-coagulant in her system was roughly four times normal levels. She died four days later of massive internal bleeding.

Craig Goldenfarb, who is representing Combs' adult children in the civil lawsuit, has to prove that the conduct of Depasqua, licensed practical nurse Erica Reynolds and the home health agencies, High Tech Home Health, Private Care Inc. and Option Care was "outrageous."

Such a finding must be made for the children to pursue a medical malpractice suit.

In Florida, only spouses or children under the age of 25 are allowed to file wrongful death cases involving medical malpractice. The only exception is if the conduct that led to a death was particularly egregious.

McPherson, her sister, Patricia Jennings, and brother, Daniel Jennings, believe the circumstances surrounding their mother's death meets the test, Goldenfarb said.

Their mother went into the hospital for surgery after she broke her knee. After coming through the surgery unscathed, they say she died because she didn't get a simple blood test.

"She was healthy. She was vital," McPherson said. "She had slipped and fell and broken her knee. It wasn't supposed to end up in death."

Nurse talks continue

Talks between the unions and the Health Service Executive are continuing today.

They are being supervised by the National Implementation Body (NIB).

General secretary of the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO), Liam Doran, said yesterday that proposed nurse stopworks will be reviewed every day, depending on the progress of the talks.

The NIB, which oversees the social partnership between workers and employers, stepped in to call the warring sides back to negotiations.

A series of one-hour stopworks had already taken place across the country, in support of 40,000 nurses' pay and conditions claims.

The Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) is also involved in the talks, and the national work-to-rule which is stopping nurses from using computers or answering phones.

The nurses want a 10.6% pay increase and a working week shortened by four hours.

It is understood that the HSE has proposed an initial reduction of one hour a week, with certain conditions.

Nurse found guilty of hacking up hubby

SHE wanted her husband dead so that she could be with her boss and lover.

So Melanie McGuire (right), a 34-year-old nurse, killed her husband MrWilliam McGuire, hacked up his body and dumped the parts into Chesapeake Bay using three matching suitcases.

Yesterday, she was convicted of murder, desecration of a corpse, perjury and a weapons offence and faces 30 years in jail.


During the six-week trial, prosecutors said McGuire, 34, organised the 2004 murder using her expertise as a nurse.

They said that Internet searches on topics such as 'undetectable poisons' and 'ways to kill people' were made in the couple's home.

Assistant attorney general Patricia Prezioso told jurors McGuire forged a prescription for a powerful sedative, chloral hydrate, using the name of a patient from her clinic on 28Apr 2004, the day her husband disappeared.

Two days before her husband was last seen alive, McGuire bought a gun and bullets that matched those in her husband's body.

The verdict from the jury of nine women and three men came after about 13 hours of deliberations over four days.

McGuire's attorney, Mr Joseph Tacopina, had argued that the petite nurse was physically incapable of killing her 190cm-tall, 95kg husband and it would have been impossible to do so without neighbours hearing something or leaving behind some physical evidence.

The prosecutor acknowledged that there were some unanswered questions, but said there was still 'overwhelming' evidence to convict the mother of two.

The defence portrayed Mr McGuire as a man with gambling debts who might have been killed by a creditor.

The guilty nurse, who sobbed as she heard the verdict, was acquitted on two counts of hindering prosecution and falsifying evidence.

The defence said that they will be appealing the decision.

Nurse is discriminated against on grounds of race in St James's job

The largest hospital in the country, St James’s, discriminated against an employee on the grounds of race, the Equality Tribunal has found.
The equality officer awarded the complainant €20,000 compensation for the discrimination and €5,000 for loss of earnings because she was not appointed to the position, which would have been a promotion.

The case against was brought by a Ms Mey. The Tribunal’s case report, which was issued recently, explained the complainant “is from South Africa and is non-white”.

The equality officer decision found: “St James’s Hospital did discriminate against Ms Mey on the grounds of race within the meaning of Sections 6(1) and 6(2) (h) of the Employment Equality Acts, 1998-2004, and contrary to the provisions of Section 8 of that Act when they did not appoint her to the position of Rheumatology Clinical Nurse Manager II even though she was better qualified and had more experience than the successful candidate”.

Ms Mey began work with the hospital in February 2001 and applied for the new post after it was advertised in September 2004. The hospital denied the allegations from Ms Mey, who was represented by the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO).

In its conclusion, the Tribunal explained: “The Equality Officer found that the respondent had failed to implement fair, open and transparent procedures in the interview process for the position of Rheumatology Clinical Nurse Manager II position. The Equality Officer noted that the respondent had found that the complainant was both better qualified and had more experience than the successful candidate. The Equality Officer held that in these circumstances the respondent has failed to adequately discharge the burden of proof.”

Ex-nurse accused of identity theft

A former Santa Rosa Medical Center nurse has been arrested on identity theft charges, accused of assuming the identity of a patient and making more than $62,000 in purchases in his name.

Gary Lamar Holt, 36, of the 5100 block of Victoria Drive in Milton, was booked into Santa Rosa County Jail on $60,000 bond after his arrest last week in Tennessee. He is charged with fraud and impersonation by using the identity of another.

Holt, an operating room nurse for about six months, left employment "abruptly" in February, said Pete Gandy, chief executive officer of the Milton hospital.

Gandy stressed that a comprehensive background check was made before Holt, previously employed as a nurse in Tennessee, was given a job here "and everything came back clear."

He is licensed by the State of Florida.

Holt came to the Santa Rosa Medical Center emergency room for treatment himself last November and apparently discovered at that time that another patient with a similar name coincidentally was at the hospital, Gandy said.

Having clearance to use hospital computers, Holt later accessed enough information about the patient -- a violation of medical center regulations -- to begin making purchases by using the patient's identity, officials said.

Among his purchases were a 2004 pickup at Allen Turner Automotive and a 2007 Honda Civic bought at Pensacola Honda, police reports show. He also opened a fraudulent credit card account, investigators said.

Gandy said hospital officials first became aware of the situation after they were notified by Milton Police Department investigators and have been cooperating closely with the department. Gandy said he has been in contact with the former patient and is confident after checking the hospital's computer system that there are no other identity theft victims.

Aussie army nurse delivers tsunami baby

Australian Defence Force nursing officer Patrick Bates is getting a ribbing from his mates about names for newborn infants, after delivering his first baby at a tsunami-hit village in the Solomon Islands.

The 31-year-old army lieutenant was part of a medical team dropped by helicopter at the village of Maravari on Vella Lavella Island on Friday when his skills were called on to assist a 21-year-old woman in protracted labour.

Only four weeks ago the reservist officer from the 2nd Health Support Battalion in Brisbane completed a NSW Nurses Association emergency obstetrics course, taking time off from his job as an intensive care nurse at Royal Brisbane Hospital.

He arrived at Maravari to be rushed by the local health worker to a hut where Racheal (Racheal) Haqi-Ilo had been in labour for 24 hours.

Only 10 days beforehand the north-west Solomons was shaken by an 8.1 magnitude earthquake then swept by a tsunami, leaving upwards of 40 people dead and thousands of people homeless.

In Maravari, Bates set to work to assess the woman then radioed his unit at the island town of Gizo to seek instructions on a possible medical evacuation.

"We were waiting for a reply when a runner came up and said, 'Mister, mister, she's about to have a baby'," Bates said.

He and army medic Lynda Bateson rushed to the woman and Bates began preparing for the delivery with the help of the local health worker, who had little experience of childbirth.

"I was pretty confident, I did recall a lot of the material from the obstetrics course, everything did look right," Bates said.

Bates checked his procedures by radio with unit doctor Lieutenant-Colonel Lindsay McDowell in Gizo during the two and a half hour delivery.

The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby's neck but he managed to free it.

Bates said the delivery went well for the first-time mother and the baby and he was thanked profusely by the family and gathered villagers.

"Everyone was smiling as soon as we opened the door, they were giggling to each other and very happy," Bates said.

"With the earthquake and tsunami, they had had some bad luck.

"Bearing in mind it was Friday the 13th, it was pretty lucky. I certainly wouldn't have minded a bit more experience, but that's the way the military works.

"For some reason I actually packed a cigar that day. I never got to crack it but I might do that when I get home."

Bates said he had a long way to go to match his father, who is an obstetrician in Perth and has delivered thousands of babies.

The medical unit's commander, Major Jocelyn King, said Bates was on hand at a good time.

"We are all ribbing him about what they are going to call the child."

But Bates said he was not sure he liked the idea of a little Solomon Islands girl being called Paddy.

The 15-member army medical team in the Solomons is assisting the country's Health Department to get island health clinics back up and running, is helping ensure good sanitation and clean water in displacement camps and is assessing village health needs.

Mid-South nurse charged with ID theft

A Mid-South man working as a nurse in a Memphis hospital appeared in court to face identity theft charges today.

A nurse working at St.Francis in East Memphis is accused of stealing patient information while working in a hospital in Florida.

Gary Lamar Holt was arraigned this morning at 201 Poplar.


Holt was arrested in Memphis as a fugitive. He asked for bond this morning, but the judge denied it.


Detective Nancy Ravey in Milton, Florida tells us Holt accessed medical information on patients and obtained social security numbers while working there.

With that information, Ravey says Holt bought two vehicles and got a credit card.

He's charged with a 1st-degree felony.

Two months ago, Ravey says he fled Milton and came to work at St.Francis in East Memphis as a nurse.

A spokesperson for St. Francis says, "we have been informed that a contract nurse, employed by Nursing Innovations, a nurse staffing agency, was arrested."

"The agency is responsible for conducting background checks on these individuals prior to placing them in a hospital."

"St. Francis Hospital will cooperate with any investigation if our assistance is needed."

We contacted Nursing Innovations (based in Florida) and Chief Operating Officer James Houston says he didn't want to comment during an on-going criminal investigation.

Also, We're told Memphis police are looking into the question of whether Holt stole any personal information at St. Francis while he was here.


He will extradited to Florida in the next 30 days.

Suspended nurse blames shift patterns

A nurse has blamed her shift patterns at a Norfolk hospital for causing her to make mistakes, including giving a blood pouch to the wrong person.

Yesterday, Sally Forster, 36, was suspended for a year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She had already been dismissed from the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston in December 2004.

The Halesworth woman was charged with failing to reach the required standards of a registered nurse between April and September 2004 and a lack of competence which meant her fitness to practice was impaired.

In letters to the panel, she said: “I admit to not meeting the standards required, but as also stated the work/life balance was inappropriate and despite numerous requests that the shifts I received were not acceptable, these were not taken seriously enough.

“I felt nervous about being constantly watched as if I was being forced into a mistake.

“I believe my shift turnaround left me so run down, physically tired and fatigued that it contributed to my errors. I felt depressed and couldn't nurse the way I felt was appropriate.”

But the panel found that she was supported by the hospital.

Panel chairman Kathleen McLean said: “We have heard evidence from many witnesses and despite some improvement it was neither consistent nor sustainable.

“We are satisfied she got intensive support and supervision, but she posed a clear risk to patient safety due to a lack of competence, and in the interests of public safety and protection we felt it appropriate for a suspension order.”

Forster made the errors while she was working on two orthopaedic wards. She was already being monitored by the ward sister when she gave a blood pouch to the wrong person in April 2004.

A few weeks later, she was spotted connecting a glucose drip to a patient who was not diabetic.

Although neither patient was harmed, she could not explain why she was making the mistakes. She was signed off sick with a stress-related illness and depression.

She was placed on a performance review, but despite repeated attempts from her line managers she made a string of errors, including failing to check patient identities and not telling a senior member of staff when a patient developed MRSA. After a further mistake with a drip in September 2004, she was dismissed.

Prosecutors argue nurse helped Golfview robber because of child

Attorneys Tuesday revealed that the Rochester, Minn., nurse charged with aiding the alleged robber of the Golfview Liquor store is the mother of his child.

Susan Leathes, 36, made her first appearance in Winona County District Court Tuesday, where she heard charges that she treated Andre Dion Jones for a bullet wound after he was shot during a botched robbery.

She then lied about it to police, according to the charges.

Leathes, a Mayo Clinic nurse, is raising a 12-year-old daughter that she had with Jones. Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean argued that the connection gave Leathes motivation to protect Jones.

Leathes’ private attorney, Gary Gittus, painted a different picture during the brief hearing.

“She’s been manipulated and lied to,” Gittus said. “She had no knowledge (of the robbery) until after the fact … she acted out of concern for her daughter.”

Leathes faces four counts of aiding an offender. She was released without bail, provided she returns for future court appearances.

Jones, 37, has been charged with six felony counts of robbery and is being held in the Winona County Jail. Prosecutors say that Jones tried to rob the Golfview Liquor store on Feb. 9 and was shot by the owner.

A 37-year-old Rochester, Minn. man also faces charges that he drove Jones to and from the store.

Nurse gives up license in drug case

A 37-year-old Fairfield woman has surrendered her nursing license and admitted guilt in the burglary of a local hospital and attempted theft of a painkiller from a terminally ill patient at a hospice center.

Annie Truman pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary and a count of attempted theft Monday before Butler County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney.

The judge warned Truman that she faces four years in prison if she fails to follow regulations imposed on her by the county’s Substance Abuse and Mental Illness court.

Assistant Prosecutor David Kash said Truman’s offenses occurred Nov. 11-12 at Mercy Hospital Fairfield and a hospice care facility on Northwest Washington Boulevard in Hamilton.

Kash said Truman was caught rummaging through disposed needles and sharp instruments at Mercy one day. The next day, she was caught dismantling a patient’s intravenous drip medication, apparently seeking the drug for her own use, Kash said.

As part of a plea deal with the prosecutor’s office, Truman voluntarily and permanently surrendered her registered nurse’s license and can never again reapply to become a nurse, officials said.

Nurse Charged In Deadly Fire

Texas - A 33-year-old licensed vocational nurse has been charged with three counts of murder and one count of first-degree arson in connection with the March 28 fire in a North Loop office building that killed three people and injured six others.
Misty Ann Weaver, an employee of cosmetic surgeon Dr. Robert Capriotti, "has confessed" to starting the four-alarm fire at 9343 North Loop East, according to officials with the Houston Fire Department and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
HFD Chief Arson Investigator Roy Paul said Weaver wanted to cover up the fact that she had failed to complete paperwork for an important audit for Capriotti. The audit had to do with the doctor's state accreditation or recertification, Paul said.
The office was on the fifth floor of the six-story, atrium-style building.
Weaver was interviewed by HFD and ATF agents at the fire department's arson division Saturday afternoon, when they say she confessed.
Senior Arson Investigator James Snowden said that Weaver "did admit that she was remorseful for the injuries and the fatalities."
Weaver was in charge of the audit, which was due March 29, "and for one reason or another, she failed to get that audit together in a timely manner, and she was fearful of being discharged by the doctor," Snowden said.
"She thought by starting a small fire it would postpone the audit," Snowden said.
Killed in the fire were Jeanette Hargrove, Shanna Ellis and Marvin Wells Sr. Hargrove and Ellis worked for the Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services on the fifth floor, and Wells was the boss of a trucking company on the sixth floor.
Hargrove's funeral was held Saturday afternoon.
Weaver, who had been interviewed earlier by ATF agents, was asked to return to the arson office Saturday afternoon to clear up "discrepancies" in earlier accounts of her activities on the day of the fire.
"When she was confronted with those discrepanices, she made an admission," said Rob Elder, the ATF agent who headed the multistate team of investigators who assisted the fire department.
Elder said that as ATF agents looked at the fire scene, the investigation started to shift to the doctor's office on the fifth floor.
"The doctor, we interviewed him and he answered our questions, and he was helpful," Elder said.
Paul said he does not think Weaver intended to injure or kill others.
"I think she was concerned that she would lose her job," Paul said. "She never dreamed that something like this was going to happen. There were no winners here. The whole situation is tragic."
In an interview with the Houston Chronicle on the day after the fire, the doctor, Capriotti, said that he and his staff had left work about five minutes before the fire.
"Everything is destroyed. My office is completely gone. Even all the medical records were destroyed," Capriotti said. "I don't know what I'll do. I really have not had time to think about it."
Capriotti said there were oxygen tanks in his office. "But they had been there for years. If the tanks did explode, it was probably the result of the fire that had already started," Capriotti said.
He could not be reached for comment Saturday evening.
The rush-hour blaze was whipped up by high winds and, possibly, fed by some of the oxygen tanks in the doctor's office, fire officials said. Several cylinders of oxygen in the doctor's office were intact, but others were not, Paul said.
Franceska Perot, an ATF special agent and public information officer for the bureau, said, "The oxygen possibly gave fuel to the fire."
The fire so badly damaged the upper floors that recovery efforts during the fire were suspended due to concerns about the building's safety.
The three victims were portrayed by family and friends as people who lived their lives helping others.
Hargrove, 52, was a vocational rehabilitation counselor.
She is survived by her husband of 14 years, Willie Hargrove, and a 16-year old stepdaughter.
Ellis, 38, also was a vocational rehabilitation counselor at the state agency.
She was a divorced single mother of a 16-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl.
Wells, 46, was the father of a 20-year-old daughter, an 18-year-old son and an 11-year-old son.

nurse claims she got fired protect patient

A former operating room nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital in Highland filed suit in Madison County Circuit Court April 4, claiming her termination was in violation of the Whistleblower Act.Julia Emig claims that in July 2006, she was serving as the operating room staff nurse when a doctor who was not performing the surgery, entered the operating room cursing about a dispute he allegedly had with hospital administrators while approaching a patient already under general anesthesia.According to Emig, she believed the doctor was not properly scrubbed and that he was not wearing proper emergency room attire and that if he continued to enter the room, he would penetrate the sterile field required for the safety of the patient."Based on plaintiff's reasonable beliefs and in order to protect the life and health of the patient undergoing surgery, plaintiff touched said doctor's elbow, thereby preventing the doctor from endangering the life and health of the patient," the complaint states.She claims she was fired for her actions on July 31, 2006, after the hospital refused to let her work after the incident.Emig claims she refused to violate rules that require the circulating nurse to coordinate patient safety in the operating room during an invasive or operative procedure.She claims her termination has damaged her in that she has lost wages and other benefits of full employment and that she has suffered embarrassment, humiliation, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life.

Nurse's aide charged in theft

– A nurse's aide has been charged with stealing credit cards from a disabled Northfield man he worked for and buying more than $1,000 of merchandise.

Police say Jeffrey Smith, 23, also of Northfield, stole the credit cards from a 57-year-old partially paralyzed man he had worked for a few weeks.

Police say Smith racked up charges at gas stations around the Lakes Region, buying hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards. They say he also paid a utility bill and twice paid $69 pizza bills with his client's cards.

The cards were not quickly missed. One of the credit card companies called the victim in January about suspicious charges, but he was in the hospital and could not contact the police right away.

Police said Smith was arrested on March 30 and charged with felony fraudulent use of a credit card. The thefts took place in January.

Smith was first arrested Jan. 25 on related charges, including receiving stolen property and fraudulent use of a credit card.

Is there a nurse in the house?

In one of the most far-reaching attempts at the state level to make health care more accessible and affordable to everyone, Gov। Ed Rendell is seeking to lower barriers in Pennsylvania laws and regulations that prevent a wide range of nonphysician health professionals from providing basic types of care.From nurse practitioners and nurse midwives to dental hygienists and pharmacists, the Rendell administration wants to reshape health care practices in Pennsylvania to lower the cost of preventative care.The Democratic governor's initiative is yet another example of states stepping into a void created by a lack of federal action on health care reform.''The national agenda's been overwhelmed by Iraq, and Washington has been paralyzed by ideological and policy gridlock on health care,'' said Drew Altman, the CEO of Kaiser Family Foundation, which studies health policy. ''The states, on the other hand, are closer to the problem and can't hide from it.''Across the nation, governors have been taking bold steps to improve access to health care and lower costs -- primarily through proposing universal or near-universal health insurance, which is also an element of Rendell's plan.Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine have already enacted universal-coverage plans. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a $12 billion plan that would require individuals, employers and health care providers to contribute to the cost. In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has proposed funding his proposal with a payroll tax and a tax on most business transactions.Pennsylvania's plan is noteworthy because it deals broadly with licensing of nonphysicians across all categories as well as with insurance coverage, according to the National Governors Association. Other states have addressed licensing issues in piecemeal fashion.''This has the potential to be two steps forward instead of just one,'' said Kathleen Nolan, division director of health for the NGA Center for Best Practices. ''I don't know of another state pursuing such a comprehensive, holistic approach.''Rendell's ''Prescription for Pennsylvania'' would explicitly allow nonphysicians to perform some of the same basic duties as doctors, such as taking medical histories and giving physical examinations. It would also allow dental hygienists to practice without a dentist's supervision in certain settings -- including schools and clinics -- and in an effort to play catch-up, would end the state's distinction as the only one in the nation barring nurse midwives from prescribing drugs.Equally important, the legislation would address obstacles created by insurance regulations. For instance, it would allow nonphysicians to be designated as primary-care providers for insurance purposes and would require insurers to include them in all health care provider networks.

Questions surround nurse’s aide’s past

Hancock St., was charged Thursday with neglect of care of a dependent person and recklessly endangering another person after a 96-year-old woman was injured while in her care, court papers said.Ms. Hill allegedly left the woman unattended after getting her out of her wheelchair, and the woman fell, breaking her nose and bruising both arms, court papers said.At Ms. Hill’s arraignment Thursday, city Detective George Hudock said she had a “30-page rap sheet.” Police, however, declined to elaborate on the statement Friday.“Because it’s an investigation, I know they won’t comment further on that,” city administrative coordinator Bridget Giunta said.The statement about Ms. Hill’s alleged criminal record raised questions about how she was hired as a nurse’s aide. Regulations prohibit people convicted of certain crimes from working in the health care industry, state Department of Health spokeswoman Larissa Bedrick said. Department records indicate Ms. Hill was certified as a nurse’s aide on Aug. 17.Heritage House is a Wyoming Valley Health Care facility. According to spokesman Kevin McDonald, there were no red flags in Ms. Hill’s background check.Luzerne County District Attorney David Lupas said he had no reason to dispute what Detective Hudock said in court.“I think part of the confusion is oftentimes people use different aliases. When a complete check is done on all of those, that’s where the police get a complete criminal history,” the district attorney said.Health care providers do not have access to certain criminal history databases, he said. After the incident, Ms. Hill was terminated, Wyoming Valley Health Care System said.

I Am A Male Nurse

When patient Choo Seng Keong pressed the emergency call bell, at a room in a ward of a public hospital here, he expected a woman clad in a nurse's uniform to appear.

Was he wrong as a young man dressed in light green shirt and dark pants walked briskly into the room and said: "Can I help you, sir?"

"I called for the nurse," said the puzzled elderly gentleman who was admitted to the hospital for treatment of stomach ulcers.

"I am a nurse sir... a male nurse," replied the young man, smiling.

In the past few years, more young men particularly the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) school leavers, have opted for the nursing career.