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.