A nurse is going through a number of fees of administering deadly or doubtlessly deadly doses of insulin to 22 sufferers at a number of well being care centres throughout Pennsylvania.
Heather Pressdee was charged on Thursday with two counts of first-degree homicide, 17 counts of tried homicide and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent particular person, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office stated.
The 41-year-old was already going through fees of killing two nursing residence sufferers and injuring a 3rd, which have been introduced in May.
Pressdee allegedly gave extreme doses of insulin to the sufferers – some diabetic and a few not – over the past three years.
In whole, 17 sufferers cared for by Pressdee died, Attorney General Michelle Henry stated. The nurse was charged with first-degree homicide within the instances for which bodily proof was obtainable to help the reason for loss of life, and tried homicide the place sufferers survived or a reason behind loss of life couldn’t be established.
The sufferers who died ranged in age from 43 to 104.
‘Disturbing allegations’
Insulin was usually administered throughout in a single day shifts when staffing was low and the emergencies wouldn’t instantly lead to sufferers being taken to hospital, Ms Henry stated.
“The allegations against Ms Pressdee are disturbing,” she added. “It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them.”
The nurse’s lawyer instructed Sky News’ US associate NBC News that their aim was to keep away from the loss of life penalty.
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According to court docket paperwork, Pressdee despatched her mom quite a few texts between April 2022 and May of this yr wherein she mentioned her unhappiness with varied sufferers and colleagues and spoke about doubtlessly harming them.
She additionally voiced related complaints about folks she met at eating places and different locations exterior of the care services the place she labored, authorities stated.
Charging paperwork from May stated Pressdee had a historical past of being “disciplined for abusive behaviour towards patients and/or staff at each facility resulting in her resigning or being terminated”.
She held plenty of jobs at nursing properties and services in western Pennsylvania starting in 2018 for brief intervals of time, based on the paperwork.
Pressdee stays in custody at Butler County Prison, with out bail.
Source: information.sky.com”