"NASHVILLE, Tenn. — 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.
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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.
Prosecutors alleged Vaught consciously disregarded warnings and risks when she pulled the wrong medication from an electronic dispensing cabinet that required her to search for the drug by name, and was therefore culpable in Murphey's death.
"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.
While Vaught's defense acknowledged the tragic nature of Murphey's death, her attorneys argued that her mistake was not a conscious, criminal act of homicide.
"What struck me most about RaDonda Vaught's interviews was not her honest recitation of the facts ... but her genuine worry and concern about Charlene Murphey and concern for her family," defense attorney Peter Strianse said during the defense's closing statement Thursday. "She was not thinking about herself."
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What are your thoughts? Do you think this will leave healthcare providers fearful of reporting mistakes?
I definitely think that would maybe cause some healthcare providers to be fearful of reporting mistakes. However, you should assume that any healthcare provider would make sure to check that they're giving the correct medication to the correct patient. I think this situation would probably push medical professionals to be even more careful now.
ReplyDeleteGood response, it is definitely tricky to get people to own up to when they messed up.
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