It is reported that two nurses in the capital of Uruguay working at two different hospital locations have just been found guilty of poisoning and inducing deaths of several patients that were supposed to be taken care of in the hospitals of the capital Montevideo. The alleged killings took place in the cardiology unit of the Maciel Hospital and in the intensive care unit of the Spanish Mutual Care. Reports state that victims may include several dozen to and even up to 200 different patients. Reports also show that the two nurses may have been poisoning some terminally and non-terminally ill patients for a few years. When once questioned upon investigation, the two male nurses claimed that what they did was for “humanitarian reasons”. The two men being accused have not been named yet and remain anonymous. It was stated that the two were not working together and do not know of one another. The two being accused are now arrested and are being followed by a 2 month investigation that all began with an anonymous tip. Although in the country of Brazil poison has been used on patients who were in critical condition, according to police inspector Jose Luis Roldan, investigators strongly believe that in not all the cases were the patients terminally ill when both men induced death.
Student Researcher:Â Claudia G. Alvarez, Indian River State College
Sources: Nurses charged over ‘induced deaths’ at Uruguay hospital, BBC, March 18, 2012
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-17422271
Faculty Instructor:Â Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D., Indian River State College