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Dental Practice Faces Lawsuits Over Patient Sexual Assaults By CRNA

May 13, 2012 lawmed 5 Comments

Dental practice faces suits over videotaped sexual assaults

By Christopher Seward

A pair of civil lawsuits have been filed months after a Cobb County nurse anesthetist was sent to prison for sedating female dental patients awaiting surgeries and sexually assaulting them as they lay unconscious.

Paul Patrick Serdula, who was sentenced to life plus 25 years, also videotaped his assaults on the patients, among them a 15-year-old girl.

The parents of the teenager and another, adult patient filed lawsuits this week against Goldstein, Garber & Salama LLC, the Marietta dental practice that performed the surgeries and hired Serdula to administer the anesthesia.

Efforts were made Friday to obtain comment from Goldstein, Garber & Salama and Drs. Maurice Salama and David Garber, who are named in the lawsuit.

“If you can’t be safe in an operating room where they are permitted to render you totally unconscious, … (Continued…)

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Medical Discovery News: The case against Propofol

May 10, 2012 lawmed No comments

From Medical Discovery News By Norbert Herzog and David Niesel.

Most people had never heard of the drug propofol until Michael Jackson died from an overdose. His doctor was recently convicted and sentenced for being reckless when he administered the general anesthetic.

Since Jackson’s death, several scientific papers have begun urging the US Drug Enforcement Administration to regulate the drug. You may already be asking, though – why would anyone use propofol recreationally?

Within seconds, it acts on a person’s central nervous system, sedating them. A mistake can cause a drop in blood pressure, obstructed airway, respiratory failure, and even death. With such high risks, propofol does seem only useful in medical settings on surgical and intensive care patients who are highly monitored.

Before officials could classify it a controlled substance, they’d have to ask, “Is propofol being abused?” One condition for abuse is first documenting recreational use. Recent scientific … (Continued…)

Mountain State Univ Officials Meet With HLC Over Accreditation

May 08, 2012 lawmed No comments

Mountain State University officials met Monday in Chicago with five trustees from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to present the school’s case for continued general accreditation of the university as a whole. This follows an Order to Show Cause as to why accreditation should continue and a site visit from the HLC. The HLC will determined MSU’s fate at a June meeting. If continued accreditation is denied the future of the university continuing to operate is grim.

Interim President Dr. Richard Sours presented changes the school has made to address concerns the commission had regarding governance, leadership and faculty, as expressed in its June 2011 Show Cause Order said Dr. Jerry Ice, president of the Mountain State University Board of Trustees. Sours, supported by a group of officials, including Chief Academic Officer Dr. Roslyn Clark-Artis, made the presentation to the commission. “He … (Continued…)

Kentucky Paramedic Sentenced To 2 Years For Tampering With Fentanyl

May 08, 2012 lawmed 2 Comments

MONTICELLO, Ky. – U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove sentenced former paramedic 49-year-old Susie Willis to two years in prison Thursday for tampering with pain medication carried on the ambulance.

In May of 2010, Willis admitted she broke the seal on at least two medication vials containing the intravenous narcotic fentanyl citrate. She withdrew the medicine for her own personal use and then in an effort to avoid detection refilled the vials with saline solution. She resealed the vials with crazy glue. Presumably the saline was administered to subsequent patients who were in pain and would have provided no relief.

Willis’ plea agreement stated that the saline solution could have caused “extreme physical pain or impairment of bodily functions” if administered to a patient instead of the intended fentanyl. She surrendered her EMT license in December of 2010.

Under federal law she must serve 85% of her prison sentence … (Continued…)

Whitney Houston Final Coroner Report Leaves Death a Mystery

May 04, 2012 lawmed No comments

The Los Angeles County Coroner released his final report on the death of Whitney Houston earlier this month. In keeping with our tradition begun in the Michael Jackson case, we are presenting our analysis of the findings. We also present our usual disclaimer that we are not experts in forensic toxicology or pathology. At the same time the information we present either IS in our expertise or has been well researched. We had previously reported on the findings of the coroner after his office held a new reference last month. At that time Law Med expressed concerns regarding the statements of the coroner’s office regarding a cardiac event having led to drowning. We now address the issues in-depth. Comments are of course welcome, very much including those which disagree or point out errors.

Between 2:45 and 3:00 pm on 2/11/2012, Whitney Houston’s personal assistant left Houston alone in room … (Continued…)

CRNA, NP, Sisters And 2 Cops Charged With Federal Drug Violations [VIDEO]

April 30, 2012 lawmed 2 Comments

In a case of ‘how many professionals who we expect better from can band together to run a drug ring’ we turn to Beaufort county North Carolina where 3 nurses, a pharmacist and two police officers have been indicted on federal felony charges for improperly obtaining and distributing controlled substances.

Registered Nurse Practitioner Amanda Bunch had her license to practice suspended by the North Carolina Board of Nursing in 2010 for improperly prescribing controlled substances and only had it reinstated two months ago. Now she’s been arrested on federal charges for the same acts for which her license was suspended. It is alleged that Bunch was writing prescriptions for various pain killers, weight loss medications and sleep aids, all controlled substances, for her two sisters, one a Certified registered nurse Anesthetist and another a pharmacist, as well as a another nurse, a State Highway Patrol sergeant and another police officer, … (Continued…)

Over A Dozen Lawsuits Filed By Nursing Students Against Failed MSU School

April 25, 2012 lawmed No comments

Three more nursing students sue Mountain State University in West Virginia for fraud, breach of contract. Over a dozen such lawsuits have been filed in recent months. See our previous coverage of some of the lawsuits here and here. A former nurse anesthesia program student has also filed suit against their now closed program.

From The West Virginia Record

By Kyla Asbury -Kanawha Bureau

CHARLESTON — Three more cases have been filed by students of Mountain State University’s LPN to BSN Program for fraud and breach of contract.

Charles H. Polk and the Mountain State University Board of Trustees were also named as defendants in the suit.

Amber Whitener, Stacie Scott and Sonia Godbey were admitted into the LPN to BSN Program, according to three complaints filed April 5 in Kanawha Circuit Court.

The plaintiffs claim when they were admitted to the program, they were informed that

… (Continued…)

“Stillborn” Premature Infant Found Alive In Coffin By Mother [VIDEO]

April 14, 2012 lawmed 1 Comment

Five “medical professionals” in the northern province of Chaco, Argentina, have been suspended pending an investigation after a newborn was pronounced dead at birth and shipped off to the morgue only to be discovered alive in a coffin by her mother, Analia Bouter, some 12 hours later. The little girl was born premature at 26 weeks gestation and declared stillborn.

From CBS news:

Bouter told the TeleNoticias TV channel in an interview Tuesday night that doctors gave her the death certificate moments after the girl was born, and that she still hasn’t received a birth certificate. She said the baby was quickly put in a coffin and taken to the morgue’s refrigeration room. Twelve hours passed before she and her husband were able to open the coffin to say their last goodbyes.

That’s when the baby trembled, she said. Bouter thought it was her imagination – then she

… (Continued…)

Former Judge Was Addicted To Narcotics On Bench, Had Sex During Breaks

April 08, 2012 lawmed 2 Comments

Knox County, Tn., Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner was heavily addicted to prescription drugs during his final two years on the bench. So addicted in fact that he was having sex and buying pills during courtroom breaks, even purchasing from convicts he had previously sentenced. His addiction has called into question many of the cases he presided over, including one of Knoxville’s most notorious murder trials.

Baumgartner stepped down from the bench and pleaded guilty in March 2011 to a single count of official misconduct. It took another eight months before an investigation the seriousness of the judge’s drug problem It has cast doubt about whether he was sober enough to be sitting on the bench.

Another judge has tossed out the convictions from the high-profile murder case and ordered new trials. Many other defendants are filing motions for new trials. Due to the sheer number of people convicted in … (Continued…)

ND Doctor In Propofol Rape Case Has Pleas Withdrawn Will Face Trial [VIDEO]

April 06, 2012 lawmed 10 Comments

We told you previously about the case of Dr. Jon Norberg, 41, of Fargo who was accused of raping a woman who was not his patient (turned out to be his wife) after administering the anesthetic propofol to her more than 30 times over an 18 month period. In January, in a deal with prosecutors, he plead guilty to felony reckless endangerment and a misdemeanor count of sexual assault. Compared to rape charges these were a walk in the park.

Norberg was accused of drugging his wife with the anesthetic propofol and sexually assaulting her on multiple occasions. Norberg has claimed his wife consented to receiving the propofol and that both of them agreed upon it as a treatment her chronic pain from an autoimmune disease. His estranged wife, a physician herself, claims otherwise and has painted her husband as a sadistic liar. Despite his plea to the misdemeanor sexual … (Continued…)

Ex Texas Nurse Guilty Of Murdering 5 Dialysis Pts With IV Bleach [VIDEO]

April 03, 2012 lawmed No comments

Huffington Post

Kimberly Saenz, Ex-Nurse Gets Life In Prison For Killing 5 With Bleach

By MICHAEL GRACZYK

LUFKIN, Texas ~A former Texas nurse convicted of killing five dialysis patients by injecting them with bleach should spend the rest of her life in prison with no chance of parole, jurors who earlier convicted the woman of capital murder last week said Monday.

Kimberly Saenz was convicted Friday of killing the patients at a clinic run by Denver-based health care giant DaVita Inc. She also received three 20-year terms for aggravated assault in the cases of five other patients who were deliberately injured at the facility in East Texas.

Jurors spent about 45 minutes deliberating before returning with a decision on the punishment. They also could have recommended that Saenz receive the death penalty.

“I was hoping for the death penalty but I’m all right,” said Wanda Hollingsworth, whose mother was among … (Continued…)

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