One of the stories making the news here in Italy is the arrest of Daniela Poggiali, 42, a nurse who is accused of killing at least 38 of her patients because she found them or their relatives to be annoying. She was initially charged in the death of an elderly patient and now police believe that she is a serial killer.
The case of Rosa Calderoni draw attention of the authorities because she been admitted for a routine illness and when she died there were high levels of potassium in her bloodstream. At least 10 other deaths are now being listed as “very suspicious”.
Prosecutor Rossella Materia called her a sadist who “who draws pleasure in provoking the death of the patients in her care.” One picture on her phone reportedly shows her giving a thumbs up next to when of her patients who had died seconds before. The public statements are an interesting dimension since Italy prosecutes people for criminal libel, as in the abusive case against the parents of Amanda Knox that we discussed earlier. While comments against the police can bring a charge, it clearly does not apply when prosecutors make such comments against individuals.
Even a colleague described her as a “cold person who was always eager to work.” This included the allegation from a co-worker that Poggiali would give patients strong laxatives at the end of her shift to make work more difficult for the nurses taking over.
Poggiali told police that she is innocent and the victim of a conspiracy by her enemies.
The case could prove very difficult given the length of time that has passed.
Source: MSN
Regarding hospitals screwing up, I suggest the classic flick, The Hospital, starring the great, George C Scott. I still think we should blame the nurse like Dr. Big Gulp.
Olly that is because the military has a huge budgetand cares for military members more than private industry cares for their employees. Private hospitals care about money, money and more money, staff safety and patient safety is low on the priority list.
What’s the over/under on the first class-action lawsuit?
Sarcasm….geez I can’t type, spell or proofread!!
Evidently.
Airline stocks are taking a dive. http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/10/15/airline-stocks-tumbling-after-news-hospital-worker-with-ebola-flew-on-commercial-flight/
Gee….who could have seen that coming? /sarcasim
Hospital stocks are probably also going to dive. They can’t handle the costs of taking on these Ebola patients and unless the government makes any announcement to ensure that they will help defray the costs expect to see some big losses in those stock holdings.
SWM, they whine when they think they are being insulted for being conservatives, yet we hear nary a peep when the same person call liberals cultists day in and day out. That is shameful, not even mentioning hypocritical.
If this were the military they would be conducting a standdown until they had ALL proper protocols were identified, trained and implemented. No liberty, no leave, NOTHING until they had covered every possible issue.
Paul C, I will agree with Paul that the CDC has not been strict enough, but that does not change the fact the hospital was screwing up far more than anyone could have imagined. Some of these things were just common sense.
Paul, I am concerned that Horned Frogs may not be PC as a mascot.
david w/ a guest blogger worthy comment!
Paul, I don’t follow college football as well as I used to but have been surprised @ how TCU has improved dramatically just the past few years. I guess they’re proving “And the last shall be first” message from Jesus.
DBQ, We’re flying to Puerto Vallarta in December. One reason we have chosen that destination is because Frontier flies there. We have a lotta Frontier miles. A guy I know told me to use them up because Frontier will be bankrupt soon. This feckless nurse may have just accelerated their demise. And, flying to Cleveland for chissake!
Well if pointing out that a that an ebola patient was left unattended and around other patients for hours rather than being placed in isolation makes one a cultust on this crazy blog, I will gladly accept the name.
This adds to yet another reason I distrust the medical community and object to Obamacare forcing me to participate with it or be penalized with a fine.
SWM, I know exactly how that nursing supervisor was treated, I’ve seen it first hand. Money is the bottom line and if the hospital administration thinks it will cost them more money, they will shoot her down.
Nick – college football is a lot more fun and exciting than professional football. BTW, Frontier has been going out of business since the 1970s. Don’t panic yet.
Ouch!
DBQ, Can you believe this thread? Obama cultists are as bad as Jim Jones cultists.
National Nurses Union. Used to be California Nurses Association, who were responsible for pushing through nurse / patient ratio laws in California. A kick a$$ nurses union.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/15/health/texas-ebola-nurses-union-claims/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 “On the day that Duncan was admitted to the hospital with possible Ebola symptoms, he was “left for several hours, not in isolation, in an area where other patients were present,” union co-president Deborah Burger said.
Up to seven other patients were present in that area, the nurses said, according to the union.
A nursing supervisor faced resistance from hospital authorities when the supervisor demanded that Duncan be moved to an isolation unit, the nurses said, according to the union.”
The Italian nurse is accused of killing 38 people. Just think how many our irresponsible infectious nurse who decided to take a plane ride may be responsible for killing. Why it could be in the hundreds….maybe even thousands.