Family of deceased victim speak out regarding former Vanderbilt nurse verdict
By Mary Alice Royse and Chuck
Morris
Published: Mar.
31, 2022 at 6:01 PM CDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - The
family of Charlene Murphey said they “may never get over the reaction to this
verdict” in a statement released on Thursday.
A jury found RaDonda Vaught
guilty last week on charges of criminally negligent homicide and gross neglect
of an impaired adult.
Former Vanderbilt nurse found guilty of criminally
negligent homicide
Vaught gave 74-year-old
Charlene Murphey a fatal dose of the wrong medication while she was a patient
at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in December 2017. Vaught administered a
drug that was a paralyzing agent to Murphey.
“Our family is still
traumatized and grieve over Mom’s horrible death. We are thankful the District
Attorney’s Office obtained justice for us in court,” Chandra Murphey,
Charlene’s daughter, said in a statement.
“For RaDonda Vaught’s friends
and some political candidates to somehow make us and the prosecution into bad
guys is humiliating, degrading, and retraumatizes us all over again. We thought
we had closure. We may never get over the reaction to this verdict.
“Our mother, Charlene
Murphey, was a caring and loving person. Those using her death for personal
gain should be ashamed.”
District Attorney General
Glenn Funk released a statement on Saturday
morning detailing when the case was even brought to court.
District Attorney releases new information regarding
former Vanderbilt nurse’s trial
“This was not a case about a
simple mistake. This was a case about gross neglect,” Funk said in a statement.
“Charlene Murphey was a 75-year-old woman who was supposed to receive a routine
medical scan. Instead, she died because of gross neglect of RaDonda Vaught.”
PETITION FOR EX-NURSE TO RECEIVE CLEMENCY REACHES OVER 100,000 SIGNATURES
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Former nurse from Vanderbilt University
Medical Center, RaDonda Vaught, was found guilty on two charges for an accidental
injection death in 2017.
Vaught was put behind
bars on charges of patient abuse and reckless homicide in February after an
investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of 75-year-old Charlene
Murphey showed Vaught had been responsible.
A petition that began
Saturday has already received over 100,000 signatures for Vaught to receive
clemency. The petition has become one of the fastest-growing petitions on
Change.org this month, according to Alaina Curry with Change.org.
I've heard a lot of talk recently from nursing friends about how this case and its implications will impact the care they are able to give. I agree that there needs to be reform in our drug dispensing systems, but I think it's more than nurses that should be held responsible for mis-dosing.
ReplyDeleteI saw that one of the people who testified said that it was common practice during that time to override the automatic drug dispensing system. Apparently, Vanderbilt had recently done a system update which led to delays. There was also not a scanner for Vaught to scan the medication against Murphey's bracelet. Should Vaught have been more careful? Probably. But was it due to her own fault? Or was it because she was overworked with a hospital that didn't have full safety practices in place? Where is Vanderbilt's responsibility in this situation? I can't help but wonder whether people were less worried about Vanderbilt's practices because of their prestige/reputation. Was Vaught being used as a scapegoat?
ReplyDeleteThats extremely interesting Maria. I think it's easier to blame one single person than a whole institution as a whole. To call out all of Vanderbilt would've been a much bigger deal/headache, though I believe that Vanderbilt as a whole should have some responsibility in this as well.
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