Grandfather, 79, dies after nurse gives him execution drug

[Chris_]

Grandfather, 79, dies after nurse gives him execution drug rather than over-the-counter medicine

A 79-year-old man died after a nurse mistakenly gave him a drug used in state executions rather than an over-counter medicine.

But nurse Uvo Ologboride picked up a vial of Pancuronium from a locked drug cart and injected it into the former teacher's IV tube.

The nurse responsible for the mix up still works at the hospital. She was fined $2,800, reprimanded and had to attend a re-training course.

Daily Mail

This is inexcusable. I hope the man's family sues the pants off the hospital and that worthless nurse and win.

[thundley4]

What the hell were they doing with that drug at the hospital in the first place?

[vesta111]

What the hell were they doing with that drug at the hospital in the first place?

You took my first thought right out of my reactive mind.    I do know something about drug carts and all medicine routinely given have to be signed out ---unless there is an emergency calling for drugs to save a patients life. Then the called for drugs used must be signed out by staff.--A reason for the sign out can be documented at a later date, say 2-3 hours, but I too am curious why this drug was in that hospital in the first place.

Didn't some states halt prison executions for not having avability to the drugs needed to perform said act??

How and why was this drug that the prisons said they could not get still available in Hospitals ???

The Nurse that administered this drug had to have signed it out at some time.  Or the medical team that may have prepared the cart for the nurse to use had to have signed out each and every drug up to and including aspirin.

I can tell you just how crazy this is, before nursing school, working as a CNA I checked on a patient and found a pill in her sheets.   I had no idea what the pill was and took it to my Charge Nurse.     She an RN and a couple of LPNS suddenly became very quiet.   Not only did they talking among themselves have a hard time identifying the pink heart shaped pill but blew it all off.

I did not know that all their carers were on the line at that moment, medication errors are reason to revoke a Nurses license in VA.    Not until I went to Nursing school did I realise just how strong the laws are in that state.

3 errors that can range from not watching a patient actually take the medication, dropping a vile of Insulin and breaking it, to not securing, locking up the med cabinet or leaving the keys on a desk where anyone can get to them.

Document , document every darn thing from the meals they eat, to the amount of urine expelled and then the number of bowel movements a day.  All drugs given , name, amount, and time of day or night.     Also the name of the perscribing Doctor.

I ask if it is possible this hospital also did late term abortions and used that drug on the stubborn baby's that refused to die ????

[franksolich]

Given the name of the nurse, and that no location was cited, I went to the link, thinking it was in some place like Walachia or Upper Dneister or Ruthenia or somewhere else in Draculan eastern Europe.

But nope, it was in Florida.

[vesta111]

Given the name of the nurse, and that no location was cited, I went to the link, thinking it was in some place like Walachia or Upper Dneister or Ruthenia or somewhere else in Draculan eastern Europe.

But nope, it was in Florida.

Frank, are there Nurses Unions in Florida.??????

[Chris_]

Frank, are there Nurses Unions in Florida.??????

Of course there are, which is why this stupid woman got a slap on the wrist for killing someone.

An investigation into the incident in July 2010 revealed the nurse on duty failed to read the label, failed to scan the medication and failed to scan Mr Smith's patient ID bracelet

So this worthless asshole basically grabbed some bottle off the shelf, walked up to God-knows-who, and injected him with whatever the hell she had randomly picked out.

She should be charged with manslaughter.

[RightCoast]

She should be charged with manslaughter.

Yes

[Eupher]

You took my first thought right out of my reactive mind.    I do know something about drug carts and all medicine routinely given have to be signed out ---unless there is an emergency calling for drugs to save a patients life. Then the called for drugs used must be signed out by staff.--A reason for the sign out can be documented at a later date, say 2-3 hours, but I too am curious why this drug was in that hospital in the first place.

Didn't some states halt prison executions for not having avability to the drugs needed to perform said act??

How and why was this drug that the prisons said they could not get still available in Hospitals ???

The Nurse that administered this drug had to have signed it out at some time.  Or the medical team that may have prepared the cart for the nurse to use had to have signed out each and every drug up to and including aspirin.

I can tell you just how crazy this is, before nursing school, working as a CNA I checked on a patient and found a pill in her sheets.   I had no idea what the pill was and took it to my Charge Nurse.     She an RN and a couple of LPNS suddenly became very quiet.   Not only did they talking among themselves have a hard time identifying the pink heart shaped pill but blew it all off.

I did not know that all their carers were on the line at that moment, medication errors are reason to revoke a Nurses license in VA.    Not until I went to Nursing school did I realise just how strong the laws are in that state.

3 errors that can range from not watching a patient actually take the medication, dropping a vile of Insulin and breaking it, to not securing, locking up the med cabinet or leaving the keys on a desk where anyone can get to them.

Document , document every darn thing from the meals they eat, to the amount of urine expelled and then the number of bowel movements a day.  All drugs given , name, amount, and time of day or night.     Also the name of the perscribing Doctor.

I ask if it is possible this hospital also did late term abortions and used that drug on the stubborn baby's that refused to die ????

A simple Nadin search reveals that sodium thiopental is (or was) in short supply for states that needed to execute their death row guests.

However, Texas (not being convinced that sodium thiopental was the only available drug that would do what it does) apparently went to pentobarbitol as a substitute. Both drugs induce a coma-like unconsciousness. The rest of the 3-drug cocktail consists of pancuronium bromide (induces paralysis) and then potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

[vesta111]

A simple Nadin search reveals that sodium thiopental is (or was) in short supply for states that needed to execute their death row guests.

However, Texas (not being convinced that sodium thiopental was the only available drug that would do what it does) apparently went to pentobarbitol as a substitute. Both drugs induce a coma-like unconsciousness. The rest of the 3-drug cocktail consists of pancuronium bromide (induces paralysis) and then potassium chloride, which stops the heart.

Well this much better then the old gas chamber used for years.    Horror way to die, taken in strapped to a chair and left trying not to inhale the gas.

A problem for the ages here, how to execute a person humanly.    France and the Guillotine  was to be more humane then hanging, but accounts of Marie Antoinette tell that like a chicken with head cut off still had enough blood in her head to move her eyes and mouth for minutes after the decapitation. 

A question in school was how long after the heart stops does it take the brain to loose hearing.   I saw this in action with my daughter in a coma was when handled for shots or any procedure was called by name, told what was to happen by nurses that had no idea if she could hear or understand.  Just in case.

So how or what is the most humane way to off a criminal,   I remember a Sifi  show where people in the future figured all this out.

The prisoner after a trial sat in a cell eating a meal.   All this was televised to the world.   Watchers could vote guilt or innocence and when the tally came in the Prisoner could go free or with no warning be blown to smithereens.

This show from the late 50's to early 60's stuck in my head and I think about it every time an execution is to be performed.   All this rigmarole with fancy dancy new ways to do the job, Darn why not a bit of Hemlock in their coffee ?? 

[TVDOC]

Well this much better then the old gas chamber used for years.    Horror way to die, taken in strapped to a chair and left trying not to inhale the gas.

A problem for the ages here, how to execute a person humanly.   

First, I agree that this is a travesty, and this nurse should face criminal negligence charges, however from the name, it is suggested that the individual is a "minority" and therefore a protected class.....would that we were all so fortunate.

As to Vests's comment above (and I struggle not to respond to these, however the flesh is weak).  I see absolutely NO reason for an execution to be carried out in a "humane" and painless manner.  The constitutional test is "cruel and unusual", and that certainly leaves a great deal of latitude.

It's only recently that we've become squeamish about putting down these animals, and were we to revert to a more spectacular and violent method, the deterrant quotient would likely improve.

I've always preferred the old Soviet model.....where the prisoner was placed in a small cage, for a long period of time, and totally without warning a guard would walk past with a pistol, and place a round in the condemned prisoner's head........a far more "humane", and vastly less expensive system than the vaudeville show that prisons go through now for executions.  We could then incorporate the Chinese finale, and send the condemned prisoner's family a bill for the ammunition used.


doc

[Challengetheworld]

If you have been to the hospital anytime lately you will see that even the janitors wear these "scrubs" or scuffs or whatever the term is.  Maybe someone was trying to cover for someone else.  What a disgrace.  Another reason to drive up the cost of healthcare now because some hospital is going to have to fork over millions because some dumb nurse got a hold of something that should be under lock and key!

[Chris_]

If you have been to the hospital anytime lately you will see that even the janitors wear these "scrubs" or scuffs or whatever the term is.  Maybe someone was trying to cover for someone else.

Huh?

Most large hospitals (HCA, Beth Israel) have switched to usings COWS (Computers On WheelS) that are used to monitor and disburse medication.  When I was in the hospital last year, the nurse had a barcode on her ID badge that she had to scan before she scanned any medication I was given, along with my patient wristband.  There is no lack of oversight when proper procedure is followed.

[vesta111]

First, I agree that this is a travesty, and this nurse should face criminal negligence charges, however from the name, it is suggested that the individual is a "minority" and therefore a protected class.....would that we were all so fortunate.

As to Vests's comment above (and I struggle not to respond to these, however the flesh is weak).  I see absolutely NO reason for an execution to be carried out in a "humane" and painless manner.  The constitutional test is "cruel and unusual", and that certainly leaves a great deal of latitude.

It's only recently that we've become squeamish about putting down these animals, and were we to revert to a more spectacular and violent method, the deterrant quotient would likely improve.

I've always preferred the old Soviet model.....where the prisoner was placed in a small cage, for a long period of time, and totally without warning a guard would walk past with a pistol, and place a round in the condemned prisoner's head........a far more "humane", and vastly less expensive system than the vaudeville show that prisons go through now for executions.  We could then incorporate the Chinese finale, and send the condemned prisoner's family a bill for the ammunition used.


doc

Oh yes Doc but I do remember the English had to put sand bags on the feet of 3-5 year olds to insure their quick death by hanging  for stealing a crust of bread or stepping on the grass of a Gentry home.

Do you Doc now agree that the middle East and the chopping off of heads is the way to go????  Stoning is much fun for those that do not know the victim.   Sort of like Saturday night at the bowling alleys, the pins are now human heads.

Anything is better then being burned alive, but we Americans did participate in that action at one time. We also poisoned our own troops with drugs against their knowledge, just to see what would would happen.

True we no longer----  draw and quarter our enemy's,  public hangings are a time of the past.  Torture chambers are only used in the far eastern country's, Egypt and a few others. What goes on in them is worse then death.

My acquaintance, a supervisor who was one of the lucky Jews let loose from Russia once told me there are no prisons in Russia, just mental hospitals.

When I told her that many states in the US allow corporal punishment in their mental hospital hospitals for adults and children, she Laughed,  no different our country's, or other country's.

Life is interesting Doc, I do believe a shot in the head is the best way to go, but would I want that for some monster who had raped or tortured my child???  

How civilised are we when the case of the Doctor whose family were tied to their beds raped then set on fire alive.????  Why not a little pain for them, a twist of the screws, a penal removal no pain pills.  

Does this not go through everyones head when a twisted pervert tortures and kills our kids??? Why do they not suffer as ther vctims did.    Why treat them with kid gloves, they were found guilty of horrid acts, yet they can walk away with no problem, they live still with 3 hots, and all the amementies the system allows.

We civilized folk march for the human rights of the inhuman perverts, we try to find any excuse for their actions, blame the parents, society, none of us want to blame the free choice of the monster.  Are we as uncivilizied as the Monsters, allowing and defending their actions?

Life is a bitch, we must play on.

[Challengetheworld]

Huh?

Most large hospitals (HCA, Beth Israel) have switched to usings COWS (Computers On WheelS) that are used to monitor and disburse medication.  When I was in the hospital last year, the nurse had a barcode on her ID badge that she had to scan before she scanned any medication I was given, along with my patient wristband.  There is no lack of oversight when proper procedure is followed.

I live in North Carolina, we too have the same system.  However, the system has flaws.  Any badge can be handed over to another nurse, it's not bullet proof.  The oversight happened where this drug was even INSIDE of the healthcare system. 

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Every 18 y/o paste-eater rolling through Ft Sam has the "5 rights" drummed through their heads: right dose, right route, right time, right patient, right med.