On Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:39:56 GMT, "bj"
<bjones44@bellatlantic.net> wrote:
>requires registration.
>Can you give a bit more info about it all?
>bj
>
>"Larry from N.J." <pleasedontemailme@comcast.net> wrote in message
>news:0tKdnf5J_rNRrhfbnZ2dnUVZ_hKdnZ2d@comcast.com ...
>> Authorities call in police to probe 3 suspicious cases -- 2 of them fatal
>>
>> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...ck=1&cset=true
>>
>
I always register under a nick for this sort of thing.
Here 'tis, sounds like hospital staff error to me, but
that's for the police and investigators to determine:
"U. of C. hospital hit with
insulin scare
Authorities call in police to probe 3 suspicious cases — 2
of them fatal
By David Heinzmann and Angela Rozas
Tribune staff reporters
July 3, 2007
University of Chicago Hospitals have asked police to
investigate whether "an intentional act" caused the
unexplained and overwhelming increases in insulin that
apparently killed one patient and put another in a coma.
Investigators are also looking into the death of another
woman who suffered from symptoms consistent with a sharp
increase in insulin, although blood tests have not been
completed to verify the presence of the hormone, according
to hospital officials and a police source familiar with the
investigation.
All three patients were elderly women being treated in the
same wing of the Hyde Park hospital, all were stricken
between May 7 and June 5, and none had been prescribed
insulin or was suffering from diabetes, sources said.
University of Chicago Hospital officials said Monday that
they are conducting a full investigation and exploring a
range of explanations that include "medication error,
laboratory error related to serum insulin levels, and
product integrity" of medications.
But hospital officials notified the Chicago Police
Department on June 22 because the insulin levels may have
been caused by an "intentional act," hospital spokesman John
Easton said. Police spokeswoman Monique Bond confirmed that
Wentworth Area homicide detectives are investigating, but
she said the investigation is in the preliminary stage.
Hospital officials say they have tightened control of
insulin supplies since the incidents.
Two of the victims had insulin levels "thousands of times
higher than normal levels," sources said. The third was not
tested for insulin levels but was hypoglycemic at the time
of her death, officials said.
Insulin is a naturally occurring hormone the body needs to
convert glucose into energy. When insulin levels rise,
glucose levels decrease, and extreme imbalances can cause
severe damage to the brain, seizures, coma or even death.
A normal insulin level may range from fewer than 10 to 50
micro international units per microliter, depending on a
person's medical condition, experts say. Two of the patients
at U. of C. had readings over 2,600.
"The only way I know to get insulin that high is to inject
it from a bottle," said Dr. Irl Hisch, medical director of
the Diabetes Care Center at the University of Washington in
Seattle.
Doctors were alerted to the problem on June 6 when they
first saw a high-insulin test result, Easton said. Test
results for a second victim were seen on June 14. The
hospital notified police after a June 22 staff "root cause"
meeting at which internal investigators could not explain
the deaths, Easton said.
Ruthie Holloway, an 82-year-old North Kenwood resident, died
about three weeks after being admitted to the 5 North/East
wing of the hospital on May 21 for a urinary tract
infection, sources said.
The day after Holloway was admitted, she showed signs of an
insulin overdose and doctors ordered blood tests that placed
her insulin level at 2,680, according to sources. Holloway
was transferred to a nursing home on June 7, but sent back
to the hospital on June 10. She died the same day.
Jessie Sherrod, 89, was admitted April 28, suffering from
complications of Alzheimer's disease. She also showed signs
of insulin overdose by May 7 when she displayed symptoms of
hypoglycemia, but she was not tested for insulin.
She died June 6, records show. Her son Ted, a state
administrative law judge, said Monday that he was unaware of
the investigation, and that he believed his mother had died
of Alzheimer's disease. Her son said her condition actually
improved at the nursing home before she died.
A 68-year-old East Side woman who remains in a coma was
admitted to the hospital on May 30, also for a urinary tract
infection. Less than a week later, she had fallen into a
coma and doctors noticed that she was exhibiting signs of
extremely high levels of insulin. Her tests showed a level
of 2,670.
Her son said Monday that he had no idea of the insulin-level
investigation, although hospital officials said they have
been keeping family members apprised of the situation.
Hospital official have sent blood samples from all three
women to an outside laboratory for testing. But neither of
the bodies of the women who died was examined by the Cook
County medical examiner's office, Easton said.
U. of C. officials also notified the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, the Oakbrook Terrace-based Joint Commission
on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Illinois
Department of Public Health and the Illinois Department of
Financial and Professional Regulation."
Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
d&e,
metformin 1500mg, ezetrol 10mg
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter.
--
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/
latest: Kuranda Skyrail near Cairns
http://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/
latest: Ki Si Ming
O/T U. of C. hospital hit with insulin scare 
Linear Mode
