Legal Pearls: Nurse Convicted of Negligent Homicide Sentenced to Probation

AUTHOR:

Ann W. Latner, JD

A patient scheduled for a positron emission tomography (PET) scan who wanted medication to relieve her anxiety was prescribed Versed, but the nurse mistakenly injected the patient with a fatal dose of vecuronium (a paralytic agent). The nurse immediately realized her mistake and tried to aid the 75-year-old patient, but the patient died. This would normally spawn a medical malpractice/wrongful death civil case, and a review by a medical board.

In this instance, the nurse was arrested and charged with murder, raising alarm in the medical community.

What was the judge’s final decision?

(Discussion on next page)