Reckless Homicide?

[George K]

https://khn.org/news/article/radonda-vaught-fatal-drug-error-vanderbilt-hospital-responsibility/

Vaught is on trial for the death of Charlene Murphey, a 75-year-old Vanderbilt patient who died on Dec. 27, 2017, after she was prescribed a sedative, Versed, but was inadvertently injected with a powerful paralyzer, vecuronium. Vaught does not deny she accidentally confused the drugs but has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Her trial ― a rare example of a health care professional facing prison for a medical error ― has been closely watched by nurses across the country who worry it could set a precedent for future prosecutions.

Vaught has admitted her role in the fatal drug mix-up, but she insists the error was possible only because of technical problems and flawed procedures in place at Vanderbilt at the time.

The case against Vaught hinges on her use of an electronic medication cabinet, a computerized device that dispenses drugs and is widely used in hospitals. According to documents filed in the case, Vaught initially tried to withdraw Versed from a cabinet by typing “VE” into its search function without realizing she should have been looking for its generic name, midazolam. When the cabinet did not produce Versed, Vaught triggered an override that unlocked a much larger swath of medications, then searched for “VE” again. This time, the cabinet offered vecuronium.

Prosecutors describe this override as a reckless act and a foundation for Vaught’s reckless homicide charge. Some experts have said cabinet overrides are a daily event at many hospitals.

Vaught insisted in her testimony before the nursing board last year that overrides were common at Vanderbilt, and that a 2017 upgrade to the hospital’s electronic health records system was causing rampant delays at medication cabinets. Vaught said Vanderbilt instructed nurses to use overrides to circumvent delays and get medicine as needed.

Read the damn label. The machine didn't dispense an unlabeled drug.

But, up to 12 years in jail?

[Mik]

So tell me again how all this automation was supposed to prevent exactly this kind of error?

I wonder if it was Omnicell or Pyxis.

[Doctor Phibes]

@George-K said in Reckless Homicide?:

But, up to 12 years in jail?

Seems a bit excessive, to say the least. The cop who accidentally shot somebody thinking they were tasing them only got two years.

Thank God the rest of us go through life without ever making a mistake.

[Catseye3]

I'm not sure what to think. 12 years is crazy. But like George said, it was unforgivably careless not to read the label. I'd go with maybe prohibiting her from okaying use of a drug, or maybe, because a life was lost, evicting her from nursing.

Aren't there sentencing guidelines that would assist in this?

[George K]

Guilty

A jury on Friday convicted a former Nashville nurse of reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse after she was accused of inadvertently injecting a patient with a deadly dose of a paralyzing drug.

The jury deliberated for approximately four hours in a trial closely watched by nurses and medical professionals from across the country, many worried that the case could set a precedent for medical errors leading to criminal charges.

RaDonda Vaught, 38, was indicted in 2019 on two charges – reckless homicide and impaired adult abuse – in the death of Charlene Murphey at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Murphey, 75, died on Dec. 27, 2017, after being injected with the wrong drug.

Murphey was supposed to receive a dose of Versed, a sedative, but was instead injected with vecuronium, which left her unable to breathe, prosecutors have said.

“RaDonda Vaught probably did not intend to kill Ms. Murphey, but she made a knowing choice," Assistant District Attorney Brittani Flatt said Thursday during the state's closing arguments.

"Made a 'knowing' choice?"

No, she made a horrible error.

"This wasn’t an accident or mistake as it’s been claimed. There were multiple chances for RaDonda Vaught to just pay attention," Assistant District Attorney Chad Jackson said in a rebuttal during closing arguments.

Yes, as I've said: read the f'ing label.